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RESTRUCTURING REFUGE AND SETTLEMENT: RESPONDING TO THEGLOBAL DYNAMICS OF DISPLACEMENTConference organized by The Canadian Association for Refugee and ForcedMigration Studies (CARFMS), Hosted by the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS)Osgoode Hall Law SchoolYork University, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaMay 16-18, 2012
JURIDICAL, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STIGMATIZATION OF THE COLOMBIAN REFUGEES.JUAN PABLO SERRANO FRATTALI
Although Colombia lives one of the longest armed conflict, it is one of the least known by international community, with tragic consequences that the world doesn´t know, is one of the armed conflict less knows and less analyzed.
Since the late 1940s the liberal and conservatives, the actors of a long tradition of a two-parties system was responsible of a strong conflict creating a criminal scenario of political violence by power dispute, this scenario have been the constant till now, more than half a century of violence and violence and more violence.
One of the most dramatic moments was the murdered in the streets of Bogota, outside of his office, of the Leader of the liberal party and presidential candidate, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 19, 1948, the people with rage created a riot and causing 300 deaths, this episode have called the bogotazo.
ACTORS OF FORCED MIGRATION STATE PARAMILITARISM AUC Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self‐Defence Forces of Colombia). GUERILLAS GROUPS FARC/EP Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People’s Army) ELN Ejército de Liberación Nacional (National Liberation Army) EPL Ejército Popular de Liberación (Popular Liberation Army) SOME MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES.
The refugees experiment in more or less measure a level of stigmatization, marginalization and exclusion, and can be even more with the status of refugees is add with singular connotations. The Colombian refugees must to support a double stigma a double discrimination to be Refugee and to be Colombian, the nationality imply that the host societies related with irregular groups, narcotrafic, terrorism and in the case of women with prostitution, existing a strong and prevention and reject by host societies.
According with the survey UNHCR GLOBAL TRENDS 2010 395.577 Colombian are refugee or in similar conditions around the world, in the following ten countries there are 121.718 Colombians recognized as refugees CODHES (Consultoríapara los DerechosHumanos y el Desplazamiento) http://www.codhes.org/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=215&Itemid=50
The main option that has the victims of forced migration is to travel inside the country or to neighborhood countries, like Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama the constant is the stigmatization and discrimination, living in precarious conditions with lack health care, Education and job opportunities; one of the most dramatic situation live the women, the sexual and gender-based violente is a constant and a lot of women turn the prostitution how the only way to live; for instance Prostitution is a major and legal industry in Lago Agrio (Ecuador).
One of the most dramatic cases of stigmatization are the Colombian refugees with HIV in Ecuador, But the lack of openness about HIV is difficult to tackle in a conservative, male-dominated society, where those living with HIV, especially women, face stigmatization. With understanding key to preventing new infections, UNHCR and its partners are trying to counter this mindset and to spread awareness about the virus. (UNHCR: Countering stigma and silence about HIV among refugees and host communities in northern Ecuador http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2011/march/20110304unhcr/)
POLICIES OF ASYLUMEXCLUSIONARY POLITICS OF ASYLUMCRIMINALIZATION OF COLOMBIAN ASYLUM SEEKERS
Some host countries are in the practice of returning Colombians without allowing them to seek asylum. The situation in many parts of Colombia is still so dangerous that some of those returned have been killed. Others choose to return to Colombia because of the discrimination, xenophobia, and lack of job prospects they face in their countries of asylum.
THE UNITED STATES CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS IN THE STUDY COLOMBIAN REFUGEES: NO SOLUTION IN SIGHT made the following Recommendations: ·The United States should ensure that foreign assistance to countries hosting Colombian refugees supports refugee protection and development opportunities for refugee and host communities in need; ·The United States should make greater use of resettlement of Colombians as a strategic protection tool, with the prioritization of particularly vulnerable populations; ·The United States should fund efforts aimed at integrating Colombian refugees into their host countries; and ·The UNHCR should ensure that separated refugee children receive Best Interest Determinations.
The European Commission expressed in the section of Justice, Liberty and Security (JLS) of the document EUROPEAN COMMISSION, COLOMBIA, COUNTRY STRATEGY PAPER, 2007-2013, 28.03.2007 (E/2007/484) the real focus on migration.
The fight against the consumption, production and trafficking of illicit drugs doesn’t contempled the victims of this fight and in second term the situation of migration in latin America is not apriority for EU.
THE SUI GENERIS CONDITIONS OF THE COLOMBIAN CONFLICT AND THE COLOMBIAN VICTIMS
undoubtedly the Colombian conflict represent a sui generis conflict for the protracted and for the production and commercialization of illicit drugs, we can affirm that all the actors of the armed conflict are commitment and related with the narcotrafic as the main source of financial resources, the same source of good part of the several politicians; in time the international community has understood that the responsibility of this struggle is global, the world especially the countries of drug production, drug consumer countries, transit countries has like principle the common and shared responsibility; the commitment have been in paper and limited, the discourse is until the direct struggle, the illicit drugs is the motor of Colombian conflict and the Colombian conflict produced the migration, is an imperative be responsible of the consequences of this war.
The shared responsibility that requires effective and increased international cooperation and demands an integrated, multidisciplinary, mutually reinforcing and balanced approach to supply and demand reduction strategies,there arents in real conditions of the victims of this awful truth.
The major part of the cooperation of United states of America is focus on war, for instance the plan Colombia, a aggressive budget for the conflict with an infamous budget in economic and social issues, the ratio essendi of this program is the military offensive, the poorest farmer suffer the consecuences of add more conflict to the violence, is really inirresponsible support scenarios for more confrontation and forget the victims.
In sum the issues of Colombian refugees has been studied in diverse studies in Ecuador and Panama but in industrialized world are scarce and has not been a matter deeply studied and today there are still many gaps in both qualitative and statistical analyses. The issue of the stigmatization don’t belong exclusively to the scope of the psychology, we have observed in this presentation too an issue of juridical and political character, the European Union and North America must be more clear in the asylum politics and this politics must to turn into in laws. The refugees turn in victims of the fight that the states facing up against immigration and terrorism; facing up to a double straggle to go out of Colombia and to enter to another country. The asylum of Colombian refugees is not only a question of humanity of each country, it must too an ethical and moral duty of the global responsibility of the fight against drugs, is incoherent a speech of we are responsible of this fight but we are not responsible of the consequences of this fight.
How would have Europe reacted? Didn´t Europe would have reacted in the same way with the refugees from an armed conflict in Japan, Canada or United States? Didn´t Canada and United States would have reacted in the same way with the refugees from an armed conflict in Japan or Europe? What was express Europe if today the countries live and armed conflict and the citizens was seeking asylum in several States and they was react with restrictive policies and unfair laws?
Colombia need a sui generis treatment for Colombian refugees due to the sui generis conflict, especially the drug that maintain the conflict and the drug is a global responsibility, the international community say that the fight against drugs is a global responsibility, but don’t take the responsibility in the places where this drug produces. When we do that, we find that refugees and are not political or apolitical but that politics is a characteristic of their life as a refugee. We must break out of the traditional characterization of the politics of the immigrant and refugee communities as ethnic/racial politics. Especially JURIDICAL, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE COLOMBIAN REFUGEES.
