Over four million people have been displaced by the Colombian conflict, almost a tenth of the population of Colombia. The only country in the world with more internally displaced people (IDPs) is Sudan. The displaced are the primary victims of the war between guerillas, paramilitaries, and the Colombian government forces. The establishment of a just peace in Colombia depends upon finding solutions to the problem of displacement. In order to meet the needs of the IDPs, we must hear their stories and learn the causes of displacement.

This photo was taken in Cazucá, a place outside the city of Bogotá where many displaced people have come to live.  Alicia Laguna stands outside of her home in Cazucá. Her family is displaced.
Copyright Melissa Engle/MCC.

The Colombian Mennonite organization Justapaz partners with the Commission for Restoration, Life, and Peace of the Evangelical Council of Colombia (CEDECOL) to report on the suffering and the hope of protestant and evangelical churches. They seek to tell the truth despite threats and intimidation in hope that their documentation will lead to sustainable peace. The third edition of their report, A Prophetic Call, is now available in PDF form. 

The cause of displacement is obvious, yet it is often covered up or ignored by the press and the government. Colombians are displaced primarily due to the presence of conflict in their towns and their farms. The government claims to have been successful in demobilizing paramilitaries, yet massacres and forced displacements by paramilitaries have not abated. Many Colombians are forcibly displaced when they are suspected of aiding the other side. Often this suspicion is unfounded or the aid to the other side was forced to begin with. Some are displaced for refusing to aid armed groups. Miriam tells her story in A Prophetic Call, “Some heavily armed men arrived and killed my husband and told me they would give me an hour to leave with my children and take the body. They said they killed him because they wanted our farm. My husband resisted and they killed him.”

Colombian Mennonite churches have reached out to provide a safe place for the displaced. As Colombian Mennonite pastor Peter Stucky described during a visit to Canada, “One of the most moving pastoral experiences we have in our church is sitting and listening to families who have been displaced but who, in this large city of Bogotá, continue to be hunted by killers of the right or of the left. They come looking for refuge, for help. We listen to them, we weep with them, we pray with them. We tell them: we have had many people in situations of grave danger, but to the glory of God, we have lost none of those who have placed themselves under the cover of the congregation. The community of faith protects, advises, orients and prays for them.”

Here in the United States, we can learn about the stories of the internally displaced in Colombia so that we can pray for them, and also so that we know how to advocate on their behalf. Since 2000, the US government has given over $6 billion in aid to Colombia, most of which has been military aid which fuels the conflict. The Days of Prayer and Action for Peace in Colombia is an opportunity to devote time to praying for the internally displaced and the churches that reach out to them, and a chance to advocate on their behalf. On April 19 and 20, postcards will be sent to President Obama asking him to end all military aid to Colombia, prioritize social and humanitarian funding for internally displaced persons, and support victims’ efforts to find truth and obtain justice and reparations. You can register for the Days of Prayer and Action at http://washington.mcc.org/days.