UN Emergency Relief Coordinator concerned by situation of Colombian indigenous people

(New York: 5 May 2006): The Nukak Maku, an indigenous community of Colombia, is at risk of extinction, according the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Colombia. In the last 20 years, the population has declined by almost 60%, and today they have less than 500 members, of whom more than half have been forcibly displaced from their homes. The Nukak live in small nomadic groups of 6 to thirty people and speak only their own language. The Nukak have suffered the devastation of their population by malaria and flu since their first contact with outsiders in 1988; now their lands have been occupied by coca growers and parties to the conflict.
The Nukak Maku are only one of Colombia's 91 indigenous groups comprising 785,000 people or just under 2% of the country's population, of whom 12 face extinction due to the conflict in Colombia. Violence against Colombia's indigenous people is often related to armed disputes over land desired for illegal coca and poppy growing and control of natural resources. Of the 91 indigenous groups, 46 have less than 1,000 members and 22 have less than 500 members.

"Having lived with and visited the indigenous people of Colombia over many years, I was not surprised by the recent alert I received about the feared extinction of communities in the Amazonian region as a result of the murders of their leaders, massacres, threats, blockades, and forced displacement," said Jan Egeland, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

Just last month, almost 1,800 indigenous people from the Wounaan community fled from their ancestral lands to seek shelter in the town of Istmina following the murder of two indigenous leaders. The region of San Juan (Chocó) is being disputed by guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and paramilitary groups.

The United Nations agencies and non-governmental partners in the affected area are working with national authorities and other members of the international community to provide for the needs of those arriving in Istmina, which include provision of shelter, food, water and sanitation, health, education, security and transport assistance, as well as protection and prevention against further displacement and registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

"While the Government of Colombia has afforded constitutional recognition to indigenous people and has made progress in indigenous legislation, much more is needed to protect these small groups, who represent part of the unique heritage of humanity and an important reservoir of cultural and environmental knowledge," Egeland said.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570.