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Colombia: stolen land, stolen lives
25-07-2011 Photo gallery
There are more than three million internally displaced persons in Colombia. Indigenous people, who make up a small fraction of the country's population, are particularly at risk of displacement. They live in the most remote areas, where armed groups and other parties to the Colombian conflict are battling for control.
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The plight of indigenous people is at its starkest in places like the department of Guaviare in the Amazon region, where armed forces and armed groups have driven entire families from their ancestral grounds: they fled because their lives were threatened, because their land was infested with mines and booby-traps or because they ran the risk of being recruited into the fighting – sometimes forcibly.
Indigenous people who have been displaced settle temporarily or permanently in the main cities of the region, like San José del Guaviare, or they end up in Bogotá, the capital.
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Here, elements of both worlds mingle. This woman is weaving leaves to roof her hut, watched by a child on a plastic tricycle.
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Originally, they were nomads – the only group of their kind in Colombia. Circumstances have made them a sedentary people now, cut off from traditional pursuits like hunting, as mines and booby-traps have forced them to leave their ancestral land. Now that they live in such close proximity to urban life, their ancient culture is fading away rapidly. It has already lost its hold on most young Nukak, who are beginning to feel more at ease in the world beyond.
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Farmers own the surrounding lands and access to them is difficult. Aid is scarce and indigenous people receive very little of it.
Indigenous men from the El Barrancón settlement near San José del Guaviare have just returned from their search for food. They only found this small crocodile, which is far from enough to feed the 48 members of their clan.
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They live in makeshift settlements and in precarious shelters that cling to the sides of steep hills.
The graffiti on the wall reads "Death to the traitor Moirin." Mere suspicion of cooperation with the armed forces or with any of the armed groups can bring anonymous threats, prompting a displaced person to flee yet again.
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Recently arrived indigenous people wait for the Bogotá office to open.
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They are still disoriented, despite having finally arrived at their destination.
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They are kept going by the hope that there may be help at the end.
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Marta, a Colombian Red Cross volunteer for 12 years, distributes food and hygiene vouchers to a family of indigenous people who arrived ten days ago.
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Miraculously, the girl survived. "Life was so nice before," Anna says. "We were a very happy family on our farm in the country."
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As there is not enough room for the children, they live with her brother-in-law in Granada, a few hours' drive away. Anna goes to see them whenever she has a day off.
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When an armed group threatened them, Jaime's family fled to Villavicencio. The one-roomed shelter shown in the photograph houses 14 members of the family. "Our food is what I miss the most," Jaime says. "We sometimes manage to bake yuca (manioc) pancakes, but the flour is expensive here."
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"My son died in combat after being forcibly recruited. My husband was murdered by an armed group. So I left everything behind to look for safety. Villavicencio, our first stop, was no good for us. We were used to the countryside and my children didn't like the city; the youngest was ill all the time. So we left. A year and a half later, an armed group arrived in the region where we had just settled. Again, we had to flee for our lives."
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"Very often, he returns some of the money to me so I can buy things for my family. I'm very grateful. When we arrived in Villavicencio in 2004, a couple sheltered us in their house. They took me to the Red Cross, who helped us for three months. But it was only when I arrived in Bogotá that I learnt that I was entitled to apply for a government-subsidized house. I applied, but I'm still waiting."
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When I ask them if they want to go back to the place we come from, only the little one says that she wishes we could live on our land again, and fish and bathe in the river. But the others say: "Never again. If we go back, they'll force us to join the armed groups and your children won't be yours any more."
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"It's very difficult to eat in the city if you have no money," she says. "Where I come from, we used to fish, pick fruit and vegetables, and raise our own chickens. None of that is possible here. But I am trying to keep our culture alive among my children. I teach them our language and tell them stories from the past."
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"I'm well integrated here, but I want to keep our beliefs alive," he says. "For us, respecting Pachamama, Mother Earth, is very important. Most of our tribes came from the earth; for example, our family belongs to the tiger race."
Carlos brings the traditional shaman's headgear: "I really want to start wearing the traditional headdress of the shaman," Carlos says, "but I've got to wait until I've learnt everything I need to know."
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