Conflict continues in areas vacated by FARC fighters
By Anastasia Moloney
BOGOTA, March 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Thousands of Colombians are being driven from their homes and dozens killed despite a peace accord ending half a century of civil war, the Red Cross said on Thursday, urging the government to better protect civilians.
A peace deal between the government and the left-wing rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) was signed in 2016, ending a war that has killed about 200,000 people. The FARC has largely demobilized and become a political party.
But conflict continues in areas vacated by FARC fighters, leaving a power vacuum, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in its latest report.
"Peace is still a fragile possibility. Although the conflict between the government and the FARC-EP came to an end, clashes between armed groups, or between them and the security forces, have given no respite in some areas," the ICRC said.
"We recognize the significant decrease in armed actions in various regions of the country, but we are aware that there is still a long and complex way for us to talk about a Colombia that has overcome the war."
Some areas, particularly in Colombia's south and Pacific region, have become flashpoints for fighting among crime gangs and a smaller rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), over drug trafficking and gold mines.
The ICRC said civilians most at risk are Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities living in remote rural areas.
Last year, the agency recorded more than 550 human rights violations in Colombia, including murders and sexual violence, and helped 3,300 displaced people.
The ICRC said it was concerned that the government has not been able to secure its presence in some areas once controlled by the FARC and provide basic services.
"The implementation of the peace agreement has not advanced with the speed and ambition that was expected," the report said.
The government has said it is addressing the problem, and in January sent 9,000 troops - the largest military unit activated in two decades - to combat illegal armed groups moving into former FARC-controlled areas.
The ICRC urged the government to step up efforts to find nearly 50,000 Colombians who have disappeared since 1985, according to government figures.
The peace accord provides for a special search unit to find the missing but it has yet to start work.
"The delay in its implementation is unjustifiable and adds pain to the dramatic situation that many families already face," the ICRC said.
(Reporting by Anastasia Moloney @anastasiabogota, Editing by Katy Migiro. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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