|
UNITED NATIONS, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said that violence continues to uproot thousands of people in Colombia despite a peace agreement signed last November between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
"Fighting for territorial control in the Colombian Pacific Coast region among irregular armed groups has displaced more than 3,500 people since the beginning of 2017," Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said at a daily news briefing here.
"While recognizing the government's efforts to consolidate peace and ensure that the rights of victims are addressed, UNHCR says that is deeply concerned at the increasing levels of internal displacement affecting several communities and reiterated the need to ensure that the civilian population has access to protection and assistance," he said.
About 13 percent of the 7.4 million internally displaced persons in the country are from the Afro-Colombian communities and indigenous peoples.
The UN refugee agency reiterated the need to ensure that the civilian population has access to protection and assistance.
The Colombian parliament approved the peace agreement in order to end 50-year civil conflict, which has left more than 260,000 people dead and displaced millions of others since 1964 in the Latin American country.
