Colombia Rural Communities Face Humanitarian Crisis Amid Armed-Group Confinement

Humanitarian organisations monitoring Colombia's armed conflict warn that rising confinement and mobility restrictions are creating a major humanitarian emergency for thousands of rural residents. The restrictions, imposed by illegal armed groups fighting for control of illicit corridors, prevent people from farming, fishing, transporting goods or reaching health centres, schools and workplaces.

The crisis is most acute in the departments of Chocó, Cauca, Putumayo, Norte de Santander, Bolívar and parts of the Pacific coast. Indigenous peoples and Afro‑Colombian communities, who often live in these contested territories, are disproportionately affected. Reports from the Defensoría del Pueblo, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other international bodies describe confinement as a violation of the right to free movement and a threat to food security, health, education and other economic, social and cultural rights.