Colombia

Country Information

Colombia is a country in the North West of South America. It is bordered by the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, Panama and the Pacific. The current political situation is unsettled. Leftist guerrilla groups, FARC and ELN, are still fighting against the government. Landlords set up private armies to defend their country. The current president, Juan Manuel Santos (August 2010) is continuing the repressive policy to the guerilla groups of his predecessor Álvaro Uribe. Uribe first took a hard line against terror and tried to get a grip on the other paramilitary groups by their agreements and to demobilize or integrate them into the army and police. Due to this hard line the economic situation improves somewhat. The cocaine mafia is contested with varying success in the War on Drugs, largely financed by the United States. Most people live in the Andean region and Caribbean coasts. Some 49% of Colombians live in cities. Only a small percentage of the population is of indigenous descent. About half of the population is mestizo, 20% white, 3.4% are Indian and 10.6% are of African descent. The vast majority of the population speaks Spanish. The majority of Colombians are Roman Catholics, the Indians are mainly followers of nature religions.
 

Partner organization

Fundación Esperanza

Fundación Esperanza was founded in 1996 and is active in the field of migration and human rights. Since 2003 they added international migration to their work load. They are looking into issues of sexual exploitation of migrants, forced migration (including internally displaced persons), trafficking and voluntary migration / return (for economic reasons). They have an observation or monitoring system on migration in the Andes region (Sistema de Atención al Migrante, SAM) which provides information, guidance and support to persons in the context of migration. This is including returnees, initiatives in the field of migration and sensitization campaigns. For more information see: www.infomigrante.org.

On the Andes level, the organization started an EU-funded project called "Andean Migration Service (Servicio Andina de Migraciones) in March 2011. One of the themes in this project is return from the EU to the Andes countries. Fundación Esperanza will particularly focus on providing information and guidance for those who return, to provide legal and psychosocial support, and assistance in setting up income generating activities or projects. They are also planning a study on migration and return in the Andes region. With their regional and national partners, they develop systems of indicators for human rights and migration. They have 10 social workers in the Andes,  including two in Fundación Esperanza. Maatwerk bij Terugkeer decided to cooperate with Fundación Esperanza early 2011 within the above mentioned project in order to develop an appropriate service for Colombian migrants returning from the Netherlands.

Example of return to Colombia

Rosa (fictitious name) is a woman in her mid thirties, married and has three children. She has lived and worked in Spain from 2002 to 2010. The reason for her husband and her to go to Spain was that his truck was stolen. Therefore they no more income. They decided to go to Barcelona without thorough preparation. Rosa has to work hard, first as a cleaning lady, later in a factory. Her husband found work in the construction business. Life was difficult in Spain, they lived with 13 people in an apartment. Their second child was born in Spain, which gave the family the right to adopt the Spanish nationality. They received humanitarian aid from the Red Cross and the church during their time in Spain. On return to Medellin, there was no help from IOM, they did not get tickets for example. In Medellín she heard about the organization Espacios Mujer, a local women's organization, which also collaborates with Fundación Esperanza. She and her husband received psychosocial support from this organization. Her husband still uses medication because he is frustrated, their time in Spain has not brought them what they were hoping for. Rosa returned to her former employer, and nowadays they can lead a normal life again. Rosa is relieved to be back.

Contact

Eva van Gestel, e.vgestel@maatwerkbijterugkeer.nl, 030-7551580.