It's been awhile since an update but that's mostly because for the past two weeks, my parents were here visiting me in Ecuador which was awesome. We had a great time together and it was nice to show off the diversity of this small country. We spent a few days in Quito touring around the old historical center and visiting churches and museums. We also spent a few days in a beautiful old colonial town in the south called Cuenca and were able to see some pre-Incan ruins. And, we got to spend a few days in an Eco Lodge in the middle of the Amazon basin...which was everyone's favorite part of the trip. The Amazon is incredible, there are really no words to describe how it feels to be out in the middle of the jungle there.
In the past few weeks I also heard the incredible news that I will be going to grad school next year! I got into Oxford for the Forced Migration Program which will give me a masters in one year. I'm still waiting to hear back from the American University in Cairo so I'm not final on my decision. It kind of depends on what kind of money (or any kind of money) the two schools can offer me.
Now it's back to work on my research. Since I only have about 3 months left (and one week I'll be in Peru and Alex will be here for 2 weeks), it's time for me to start writing up my results. That is exciting but also intimidating at the same time. Hopefully something worthwhile will come out of my work here...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
The Danger of Reading Too Far into Labels
I'm reading Samantha Power's "A Problem from Hell: America in the Age of Genocide" right now and she talks a lot about the significance of the word "genocide" as opposed to other words/phrases used to describe systematic killings like "ethnic cleansing" or "civil war." Governments and organizations are hesitant to label a conflict a "genocide" because once the term is used, there is a moral obligation/pressure to militarily intervene in the conflict. The fact that the term "genocide" even exists (thanks to Raphael Lemkin) is such a powerful victory in human rights. It is incredibly important that a term exists to describe that level of systematic killings. On the other hand, if too much emphasis is placed on that one word (which has almost become like a "buzz" word when discussing conflicts), governments can in turn downplay or ignore a conflict by denying it genocide status. Furthermore, severe conflicts that don't necessarily fit into the parameters of genocide status thus receive less media attention and interest.
Since 1998, 5.4 million people have died as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet there is almost no media coverage nor is there a huge international push for conflict resolution in the country.
Again, the fact that the term "genocide" exists to express conflicts like 1994 Rwanda is paramount, but it is equally important to also look beyond labels and terms to the central situation.
In my opinion, the same applies to the term "refugee." The creation of the definition of a "refugee" after WWII was again an incredible moment in the history of human rights. To give such a status to people who have been forced to flee their country because of violence or persecution is extremely important. However, placing so much emphasis on that one term (which has also become a very popular "buzz" word in the media) creates a level of exclusion to other people in need of international protection. UNHCR's (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) mandate (and thus funding) is ONLY for refugees, aka those who have actually been awarded a refugee visa. There have been some instances where it has elected to expand its mandate like in Colombia, where UNHCR is trying to help the over 3 million internally displaced people. Most international organizations that focus on helping refugees follow this mandate and thus only help those with refugee status or those in the process of applying for refugee status. There are millions more internally displaced people worldwide (some estimate over 25 million) that, as a result, fall out of their designation.
I was talking to a friend the other day about internally displaced people in Colombia and she said "oh but I guess you're just interested in the status of refugees." I'm not. I'm interested in the status of any person that has been forced to flee from their home because of violence or threats, whether or not they have had to actually cross a border, and whether or not they have received an actual refugee visa. I believe those people should still qualify for international protection and be addressed by international aid. The 200,000+ Colombians here in Ecuador without status are by far the most vulnerable and in need of protection/aid, and yet they don't qualify according to UNHCR's mandate. The solution that UNHCR and many of its partners have put forth is to try and register them in Ecuador en masse over the next couple years. That way, they would qualify. But that doesn't necessarily seem like the only right solution to me. What about the tens of thousands of Colombians that have already been denied refugee status because of lack of documents (many have to flee at a moment's notice and thus don't bring the necessary documentation with them to Ecuador) or because they accidentally answered some of their interview questions incorrectly? Once denied, they have about a one in a million shot of getting approved on an appeal. What about the Colombians that are too afraid to register themselves in Ecuador because they feel like they still face threats here? Why should 200,000 people in need of help have to wait in order for them to qualify bureaucratically for aid? In the end, a refugee is a refugee, and while I can understand that registration is necessary for legalization in Ecuador, they should still qualify for aid and some kind of protection before they get the visa or even if they were denied for unfair reasons.
I had a meeting with Jesuit Relief Services (an international organization that works on behalf of refugees and migrants) two weeks ago in Quito. The director told me that the organization has taken a respectful stance against UNHCR policy. To them, a person in need of international protection is a person in need of international protection, regardless of what visa or papers they have or do not have. This is the only organization I have come across so far in Ecuador operating on behalf of refugees that shares this opinion. I really respect the work they are doing here; I have met a lot of Colombians that were denied for refugee status that told me that JRS has been the only organization to really help them.
I understand that realistically, this is the only way that UNHCR feels it can operate internationally. There has to be some line drawn, because a refugee truly does deserve special status and protection. And there must be a process to determine refugee status. But looking at the situation here in Ecuador and sitting and talking with some of the people who have been denied really makes me believe that some kind of adjustments can and must be made.
Since 1998, 5.4 million people have died as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the world's deadliest conflict since World War II. And yet there is almost no media coverage nor is there a huge international push for conflict resolution in the country.
Again, the fact that the term "genocide" exists to express conflicts like 1994 Rwanda is paramount, but it is equally important to also look beyond labels and terms to the central situation.
In my opinion, the same applies to the term "refugee." The creation of the definition of a "refugee" after WWII was again an incredible moment in the history of human rights. To give such a status to people who have been forced to flee their country because of violence or persecution is extremely important. However, placing so much emphasis on that one term (which has also become a very popular "buzz" word in the media) creates a level of exclusion to other people in need of international protection. UNHCR's (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) mandate (and thus funding) is ONLY for refugees, aka those who have actually been awarded a refugee visa. There have been some instances where it has elected to expand its mandate like in Colombia, where UNHCR is trying to help the over 3 million internally displaced people. Most international organizations that focus on helping refugees follow this mandate and thus only help those with refugee status or those in the process of applying for refugee status. There are millions more internally displaced people worldwide (some estimate over 25 million) that, as a result, fall out of their designation.
I was talking to a friend the other day about internally displaced people in Colombia and she said "oh but I guess you're just interested in the status of refugees." I'm not. I'm interested in the status of any person that has been forced to flee from their home because of violence or threats, whether or not they have had to actually cross a border, and whether or not they have received an actual refugee visa. I believe those people should still qualify for international protection and be addressed by international aid. The 200,000+ Colombians here in Ecuador without status are by far the most vulnerable and in need of protection/aid, and yet they don't qualify according to UNHCR's mandate. The solution that UNHCR and many of its partners have put forth is to try and register them in Ecuador en masse over the next couple years. That way, they would qualify. But that doesn't necessarily seem like the only right solution to me. What about the tens of thousands of Colombians that have already been denied refugee status because of lack of documents (many have to flee at a moment's notice and thus don't bring the necessary documentation with them to Ecuador) or because they accidentally answered some of their interview questions incorrectly? Once denied, they have about a one in a million shot of getting approved on an appeal. What about the Colombians that are too afraid to register themselves in Ecuador because they feel like they still face threats here? Why should 200,000 people in need of help have to wait in order for them to qualify bureaucratically for aid? In the end, a refugee is a refugee, and while I can understand that registration is necessary for legalization in Ecuador, they should still qualify for aid and some kind of protection before they get the visa or even if they were denied for unfair reasons.
I had a meeting with Jesuit Relief Services (an international organization that works on behalf of refugees and migrants) two weeks ago in Quito. The director told me that the organization has taken a respectful stance against UNHCR policy. To them, a person in need of international protection is a person in need of international protection, regardless of what visa or papers they have or do not have. This is the only organization I have come across so far in Ecuador operating on behalf of refugees that shares this opinion. I really respect the work they are doing here; I have met a lot of Colombians that were denied for refugee status that told me that JRS has been the only organization to really help them.
I understand that realistically, this is the only way that UNHCR feels it can operate internationally. There has to be some line drawn, because a refugee truly does deserve special status and protection. And there must be a process to determine refugee status. But looking at the situation here in Ecuador and sitting and talking with some of the people who have been denied really makes me believe that some kind of adjustments can and must be made.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
CARNAVAL!!!
I got back from the coast/Carnaval on Wednesday night but I really needed a couple of days to recover before posting about the trip, haha!
Stewart, Shanti, and I left on Friday night just hoping to reach the coast within 24 hours. Normally it's only a 6-7 hours trip to where we were going but massive rains had caused numerous landslides on virtually every road out of Quito. There were reports on the news about people getting stuck on the road for 15+ hours. We thought about canceling the trip but we figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on the coast in Ecuador during Carnaval.
Luckily we made it in only 6 hours because they cleared the roads just in time. We stayed in Sua, a town an hour south of Esmeraldas in a nice hotel overlooking the beach and bay below. As soon as we got there, people dumped a bucket of water on us, which became the first time of mannnnnnnnnny times during our trip. The tradition during Carnaval in Ecuador is to soak people with either water or foam (they sell foam spray canisters everywhere) anytime, anywhere. People throw buckets of water through open windows of passing buses, on people walking down on the street from balconies, and even in bars. By the second day, we decided to buy a supersoaker and cans of foam spray in order to better arm ourselves because we were getting killed (we were the only gringas in town). One of the best things we did was all pile into a tricyclo (like a moto with a little carriage attached to it) and drive around soaking people on the street.
At night, everyone goes into Atacames, a small city about 10 minutes north of where we were staying. The beachfront there is lined with outdoor bars that are all packed together in a row, each one blasting the same salsa or reggaeton hits.
During the day, we had a really good time on the beach, playing soccer, swimming in the ocean, and boogie boarding. I miss the coast! Hopefully I'll be able to end up living near the ocean when I'm older.
On the way home I spent the night in Esmeraldas in order to do more surveying with Colombians. The day I got there I got absolutely DRENCHED by every single person in the street. Seeing a gringa in Esmeraldas city is very rare and they all took full advantage of it. Two guys chased me down the street with giant buckets and after they got me, about 6 guys ran out of a building and each threw a can of water on me. The entire block was dying laughing at me! By the end, it looked like I had jumped in a pool. The next morning I got some surveying done, but there weren't very many Colombians in the office that morning unfortunately.
In all, Carnaval was AMAZING and definitely an experience to remember. The next two weeks I really have to buckle down and finish the data collection of my research before my parents come to visit.
PS I will post pictures from the trip in the next week...
Stewart, Shanti, and I left on Friday night just hoping to reach the coast within 24 hours. Normally it's only a 6-7 hours trip to where we were going but massive rains had caused numerous landslides on virtually every road out of Quito. There were reports on the news about people getting stuck on the road for 15+ hours. We thought about canceling the trip but we figured it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be on the coast in Ecuador during Carnaval.
Luckily we made it in only 6 hours because they cleared the roads just in time. We stayed in Sua, a town an hour south of Esmeraldas in a nice hotel overlooking the beach and bay below. As soon as we got there, people dumped a bucket of water on us, which became the first time of mannnnnnnnnny times during our trip. The tradition during Carnaval in Ecuador is to soak people with either water or foam (they sell foam spray canisters everywhere) anytime, anywhere. People throw buckets of water through open windows of passing buses, on people walking down on the street from balconies, and even in bars. By the second day, we decided to buy a supersoaker and cans of foam spray in order to better arm ourselves because we were getting killed (we were the only gringas in town). One of the best things we did was all pile into a tricyclo (like a moto with a little carriage attached to it) and drive around soaking people on the street.
At night, everyone goes into Atacames, a small city about 10 minutes north of where we were staying. The beachfront there is lined with outdoor bars that are all packed together in a row, each one blasting the same salsa or reggaeton hits.
During the day, we had a really good time on the beach, playing soccer, swimming in the ocean, and boogie boarding. I miss the coast! Hopefully I'll be able to end up living near the ocean when I'm older.
On the way home I spent the night in Esmeraldas in order to do more surveying with Colombians. The day I got there I got absolutely DRENCHED by every single person in the street. Seeing a gringa in Esmeraldas city is very rare and they all took full advantage of it. Two guys chased me down the street with giant buckets and after they got me, about 6 guys ran out of a building and each threw a can of water on me. The entire block was dying laughing at me! By the end, it looked like I had jumped in a pool. The next morning I got some surveying done, but there weren't very many Colombians in the office that morning unfortunately.
In all, Carnaval was AMAZING and definitely an experience to remember. The next two weeks I really have to buckle down and finish the data collection of my research before my parents come to visit.
PS I will post pictures from the trip in the next week...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Life so far in Quito
Since September, I have been living in Quito which is located up in the Andes at 9,305 feet. Yes, it's very high up and I still feel the altitude even after being acclimatized here for so long. It makes it a lot more difficult to wake up in the morning and running here feels like you're running with half a lung. Because it's on the equator, it still does feel semi-tropical. Everything is very green and it rains almost every day. Highs are in the low 70's and lows are in the low 50's at night so no, our apartment has neither air-con nor a heater.
I live with two friends in an apartment in northern Quito in a neighborhood called "La Carolina", named for the giant park two blocks from our apartment (kind of like the Central Park of Quito). Parque La Carolina is definitely one of my favorite places in Quito...it has everything from soccer fields to basketball courts to paddleboats on a river to a mini skate park. When Nadia lived with us we used to go play pick-up soccer on the weekends but the men here are beyond machista (one told us that we would "lose our feminity once we put on our cleats") so lately I've mostly been training by myself. The reason why I've been training is that I am joining the Ecuadorian women's soccer league here. The team I'll be playing for is the Aucas (Nadia's old team that she set me up with). Women's soccer here is something else...these girls do not mess around. It should be a really interesting experience and it is the first time I'll be playing seriously since I quit competitive soccer at 15 after my knee injuries. I'm just hoping to stay healthy and score a goal by the time I leave!
This week I need to rush to finish up some research (and have an important meeting with JRS) before I leave on Friday to go to the coast (Sua to be exact, just south of Esmeraldas on the northern coast). Monday/Tuesday is Carnaval in Ecuador and the coast is supposed to be the best place to celebrate. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures...I'm told it involves water/flour fights on the streets so it should be crazy. I'm also hoping to stop by Esmeraldas on the way back and do some more surveying in the HIAS office. So, I may not be able to update until mid-next week. Bye until then and miss you all! (I'm including some pictures from my first 5 months here below...thanks to Nads and Emma for some of these photos)
Parque La Carolina with a view of Pichincha Mountains in the background
Quito
AUCAS, my future team!
My three original roommates...Stew is still here but Kat is not :(
Parade during Quito Fest in the beginning of December
Our guy friends hanging out at our friend Pepe's house in Cayambe
In Baños, the extreme sports capital of Ecuador
Juggling with Nadia on the beach
Pineapple Man in Montañita
Me, Nads, and Emma on our last day in Montañita....like the Santa Cruz of Ecuador
I live with two friends in an apartment in northern Quito in a neighborhood called "La Carolina", named for the giant park two blocks from our apartment (kind of like the Central Park of Quito). Parque La Carolina is definitely one of my favorite places in Quito...it has everything from soccer fields to basketball courts to paddleboats on a river to a mini skate park. When Nadia lived with us we used to go play pick-up soccer on the weekends but the men here are beyond machista (one told us that we would "lose our feminity once we put on our cleats") so lately I've mostly been training by myself. The reason why I've been training is that I am joining the Ecuadorian women's soccer league here. The team I'll be playing for is the Aucas (Nadia's old team that she set me up with). Women's soccer here is something else...these girls do not mess around. It should be a really interesting experience and it is the first time I'll be playing seriously since I quit competitive soccer at 15 after my knee injuries. I'm just hoping to stay healthy and score a goal by the time I leave!
This week I need to rush to finish up some research (and have an important meeting with JRS) before I leave on Friday to go to the coast (Sua to be exact, just south of Esmeraldas on the northern coast). Monday/Tuesday is Carnaval in Ecuador and the coast is supposed to be the best place to celebrate. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures...I'm told it involves water/flour fights on the streets so it should be crazy. I'm also hoping to stop by Esmeraldas on the way back and do some more surveying in the HIAS office. So, I may not be able to update until mid-next week. Bye until then and miss you all! (I'm including some pictures from my first 5 months here below...thanks to Nads and Emma for some of these photos)
Parque La Carolina with a view of Pichincha Mountains in the background
Quito
AUCAS, my future team!
My three original roommates...Stew is still here but Kat is not :(
Parade during Quito Fest in the beginning of December
Our guy friends hanging out at our friend Pepe's house in Cayambe
In Baños, the extreme sports capital of Ecuador
Juggling with Nadia on the beach
Pineapple Man in Montañita
Me, Nads, and Emma on our last day in Montañita....like the Santa Cruz of Ecuador
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
First posting...5 months in
Disclaimer: This blog does not, in any way, express the thoughts or opinions of the Fulbright Commission, HIAS, or any other organization I have worked with in Ecuador. My perspective and opinions are my own.
I'm starting this blog 5 months into my 10 months here in Ecuador because I have been really bad about e-mailing and updating everyone at home. I'm sorry! Hopefully this will be a new start. For those of you who don't know, I am living in Quito, Ecuador on a Fulbright scholarship from September 2008 to July 2009.
Through an affiliation with HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the U.S.'s oldest international migration and refugee aid agency), I am conducting a research project on the Colombian refugees that are living in Ecuador. More specifically, I am analyzing the impact of the "Mexico Plan of Action", which twenty Latin American countries came together to sign in 2004 in an attempt to address the refugee issue in Latin America, especially in and around Colombia. The Plan of Action highlighted three areas of focus for improvement: local integration and self-sufficiency for refugees living in cities, border protection and development, and resettlement of refugees to "third" countries in Latin America instead of Europe or North America. When it was signed in 2004, the head of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR or ACNUR in Spanish), António Guterres, called the Plan "the world’s most sophisticated instrument to protect and help those fleeing their homes and their countries." It has now been almost five years since its passage and I am trying to do it justice by seeing how well it has been implemented in Ecuador.
Most people I have talked to about my project are surprised about the fact that a) there is conflict in Colombia and b) there are Colombian refugees in Ecuador. Actually, there is very little public knowledge or press about the conflict, partly because the Colombian government itself tries to downplay the severity of the violence and its inability to end it. The conflict itself is decades old, extremely complicated, and very much tied up in U.S. policy. War first broke out in rural Colombia between 1948 and 1958 during a period called "La Violencia." The Liberal Party and Conservative Party fought a bloody battle for power which resulted in about 200,000 deaths. When the conflict finally ended, a few of the radical communist groups refused to demobilize and in 1966, they went on to form FARC and the ELN (two of the guerrilla groups that are still fighting today). With the support of the U.S. government and the C.I.A., the Colombian government began supporting counter-guerrilla military operations, which only served to escalate the violence. The decades of the 1970's and 1980's brought even more complications to the conflict as the illegal drug trade began to escalate in Colombia. Guerrilla groups began making a huge amount of money cultivating coca plants and were able to buy even more sophisticated weapons. The groups also began relying on kidnapping, extortion, and intimidation to fuel their campaign. The U.S. became increasingly involved in the conflict after President Nixon's announcement of the "war on drugs." Colombia became a target country for trying to control the flow of drugs into the U.S. The U.S. government furthered entrenched itself in the war when President Clinton announced the creation of "Plan Colombia." This new phase in U.S.-Colombian relations made Colombia the third highest recipient of aid from the U.S. "Plan Colombia" has not only provided the Colombian government with money ($3 billion as of 2004), but also with military aid including U.S. soldiers. The problem with this "Plan" is that the Colombian government has known ties to right-wing paramilitary groups (which, ironically enough, also make money off of the illegal sale of cocaine) and thus the funding that the U.S. is providing is actually fueling the violence, complicating the conflict, and doing virtually nothing to stop the cocaine trade. It is a completely misguided policy and many people here point to "Plan Colombia" as the reason why violence has escalated in the country in the past ten years. Between obscene amount of money fueling the fighting, the numerous guerrilla groups, the paramilitaries, and the government soldiers, thousands of Colombian have been killed or forced to flee their homes (there are over 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia and hundreds of thousands of refugees who have crossed the border into neighboring countries like Ecuador).
The fact that very people know about the conflict means that organizations working on behalf of displaced Colombians have a very hard time getting funding. This is one of the most tragic aspects of the whole situation.
Here in Ecuador there are over 250,000 Colombians in need of international protection. I came here expecting to study how well integrated all of these refugees are into Ecuadorian society. The problem is, out of those 250,000 "de-facto" refugees, only about 16,000-18,000 have actually been legalized and received refugee status, making the majority ineligible to work and receive international protection. Thus, 93% of the population in need is extremely vulnerable: they risk deportation or harassment by Ecuadorian police, they can't organize or unionize to guarantee a paying job, they are more easily susceptible to attacks and kidnappings from Colombian guerrillas in Ecuador (some Colombians are even targeted here in Quito...about 5 hours from the border), and they aren't even eligible to receive aid from humanitarian refugee organizations, including UNHCR, since their mandates only cover official refugees or those in the process of becoming refugees. Of course, my first question when I came here and learned about this situation was "why are so few Colombians registered with refugee status?" There are multiple reasons behind this. First of all, many Colombians are living in extremely isolated areas along the border and they have no idea of their right to apply for refugee status. Second of all, up until this point, there has been little to no government presence along the border which would allow refugees to register. Thirdly, some Colombians don't want to come forward and register themselves as refugees because they are still targeted by armed Colombian groups and they are afraid to identify themselves. Lastly, it is solely the Ecuadorian government's right to either deny or accept requests for refugee status. Status is largely based on an interview between the solicitant and a government official. A lot of the potential refugees are unaware of the language that needs to be stated in order to qualify. For instance, stating that they fled because of "threats from groups" would not qualify them under the official definition of a refugee. Instead, they must state that they fled because of "threats from armed groups." Little discrepancies like this has led to the Ecuadorian government only approving 32% of applicants for refugee status between 2000-2006.
Above is a photo of Colombians protesting for their right to refugee status here in Ecuador. Copyright belongs to Vistazo.com
This is obviously the greatest gap in the humanitarian response to Colombians here in Ecuador. Thankfully, UNHCR and the Ecuadorian government have been working together to start a new campaign aimed at fixing this problem. The program, called "Registro Ampliado", is a mass registration project that aims to register 50,000 Colombians along the border in 2009. A pilot version of the program was undertaken in December of 2008 in two areas along the border. While only about 200 Colombians were registered, 82% of the applicants were approved. This is a very positive statistic. "Registro Ampliado" is expected to be launched on a larger scale starting this month for the rest of the year. I have high hopes for it but, of course, there are a lot of potential problems. In order not to cause a mass migration from Colombia to Ecuador, "Registro Ampliado" moves from area to area for short periods of time and the organizers only announce the project a couple days in advance. Because of this, it is not yet known whether the majority of the Colombians living in isolated communities along the Ecuadorian border will ever hear about it. And if "Registro Ampliado" does succeed, there will be a massive new number of registered refugees that would then qualify for aid from humanitarian organizations. Funding, projects, and presence would have to increase exponentially.
It is a very exciting time to be doing this research in Ecuador. Up to this point, the "Mexico Plan of Action" has not really made a huge impact on the Colombian population outside of small-scale projects and a lot of discussion on the part of UNHCR and other organizations. But, like the "Registro Ampliado", UNHCR, civil society, and the Ecuadorian government have really been pushing forth projects and policies this past year that could make a hugely positive impact. My research here so far has combined interviews with UNHCR and numerous refugee aid organizations with surveys that I am conducting with the refugees themselves. So far I have conducted 76 surveys in Quito, Santo Domingo, Esmeraldas, Ibarra, and Tulcan (see the map below). It's a little to early to draw any definite conclusions and lot of the conclusions depend on how successful "Registro Ampliado" and other projects are implemented in the next few months before I leave.
I'm sorry for such a dense first post! My research is the basis for my experience here in Ecuador and I hope to share what I'm learning with as many people as possible. I promise to write more about my life here and my first 5 months next time! Love you all.
I'm starting this blog 5 months into my 10 months here in Ecuador because I have been really bad about e-mailing and updating everyone at home. I'm sorry! Hopefully this will be a new start. For those of you who don't know, I am living in Quito, Ecuador on a Fulbright scholarship from September 2008 to July 2009.
Through an affiliation with HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the U.S.'s oldest international migration and refugee aid agency), I am conducting a research project on the Colombian refugees that are living in Ecuador. More specifically, I am analyzing the impact of the "Mexico Plan of Action", which twenty Latin American countries came together to sign in 2004 in an attempt to address the refugee issue in Latin America, especially in and around Colombia. The Plan of Action highlighted three areas of focus for improvement: local integration and self-sufficiency for refugees living in cities, border protection and development, and resettlement of refugees to "third" countries in Latin America instead of Europe or North America. When it was signed in 2004, the head of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR or ACNUR in Spanish), António Guterres, called the Plan "the world’s most sophisticated instrument to protect and help those fleeing their homes and their countries." It has now been almost five years since its passage and I am trying to do it justice by seeing how well it has been implemented in Ecuador.
Most people I have talked to about my project are surprised about the fact that a) there is conflict in Colombia and b) there are Colombian refugees in Ecuador. Actually, there is very little public knowledge or press about the conflict, partly because the Colombian government itself tries to downplay the severity of the violence and its inability to end it. The conflict itself is decades old, extremely complicated, and very much tied up in U.S. policy. War first broke out in rural Colombia between 1948 and 1958 during a period called "La Violencia." The Liberal Party and Conservative Party fought a bloody battle for power which resulted in about 200,000 deaths. When the conflict finally ended, a few of the radical communist groups refused to demobilize and in 1966, they went on to form FARC and the ELN (two of the guerrilla groups that are still fighting today). With the support of the U.S. government and the C.I.A., the Colombian government began supporting counter-guerrilla military operations, which only served to escalate the violence. The decades of the 1970's and 1980's brought even more complications to the conflict as the illegal drug trade began to escalate in Colombia. Guerrilla groups began making a huge amount of money cultivating coca plants and were able to buy even more sophisticated weapons. The groups also began relying on kidnapping, extortion, and intimidation to fuel their campaign. The U.S. became increasingly involved in the conflict after President Nixon's announcement of the "war on drugs." Colombia became a target country for trying to control the flow of drugs into the U.S. The U.S. government furthered entrenched itself in the war when President Clinton announced the creation of "Plan Colombia." This new phase in U.S.-Colombian relations made Colombia the third highest recipient of aid from the U.S. "Plan Colombia" has not only provided the Colombian government with money ($3 billion as of 2004), but also with military aid including U.S. soldiers. The problem with this "Plan" is that the Colombian government has known ties to right-wing paramilitary groups (which, ironically enough, also make money off of the illegal sale of cocaine) and thus the funding that the U.S. is providing is actually fueling the violence, complicating the conflict, and doing virtually nothing to stop the cocaine trade. It is a completely misguided policy and many people here point to "Plan Colombia" as the reason why violence has escalated in the country in the past ten years. Between obscene amount of money fueling the fighting, the numerous guerrilla groups, the paramilitaries, and the government soldiers, thousands of Colombian have been killed or forced to flee their homes (there are over 3 million internally displaced people in Colombia and hundreds of thousands of refugees who have crossed the border into neighboring countries like Ecuador).
The fact that very people know about the conflict means that organizations working on behalf of displaced Colombians have a very hard time getting funding. This is one of the most tragic aspects of the whole situation.
Here in Ecuador there are over 250,000 Colombians in need of international protection. I came here expecting to study how well integrated all of these refugees are into Ecuadorian society. The problem is, out of those 250,000 "de-facto" refugees, only about 16,000-18,000 have actually been legalized and received refugee status, making the majority ineligible to work and receive international protection. Thus, 93% of the population in need is extremely vulnerable: they risk deportation or harassment by Ecuadorian police, they can't organize or unionize to guarantee a paying job, they are more easily susceptible to attacks and kidnappings from Colombian guerrillas in Ecuador (some Colombians are even targeted here in Quito...about 5 hours from the border), and they aren't even eligible to receive aid from humanitarian refugee organizations, including UNHCR, since their mandates only cover official refugees or those in the process of becoming refugees. Of course, my first question when I came here and learned about this situation was "why are so few Colombians registered with refugee status?" There are multiple reasons behind this. First of all, many Colombians are living in extremely isolated areas along the border and they have no idea of their right to apply for refugee status. Second of all, up until this point, there has been little to no government presence along the border which would allow refugees to register. Thirdly, some Colombians don't want to come forward and register themselves as refugees because they are still targeted by armed Colombian groups and they are afraid to identify themselves. Lastly, it is solely the Ecuadorian government's right to either deny or accept requests for refugee status. Status is largely based on an interview between the solicitant and a government official. A lot of the potential refugees are unaware of the language that needs to be stated in order to qualify. For instance, stating that they fled because of "threats from groups" would not qualify them under the official definition of a refugee. Instead, they must state that they fled because of "threats from armed groups." Little discrepancies like this has led to the Ecuadorian government only approving 32% of applicants for refugee status between 2000-2006.
Above is a photo of Colombians protesting for their right to refugee status here in Ecuador. Copyright belongs to Vistazo.com
This is obviously the greatest gap in the humanitarian response to Colombians here in Ecuador. Thankfully, UNHCR and the Ecuadorian government have been working together to start a new campaign aimed at fixing this problem. The program, called "Registro Ampliado", is a mass registration project that aims to register 50,000 Colombians along the border in 2009. A pilot version of the program was undertaken in December of 2008 in two areas along the border. While only about 200 Colombians were registered, 82% of the applicants were approved. This is a very positive statistic. "Registro Ampliado" is expected to be launched on a larger scale starting this month for the rest of the year. I have high hopes for it but, of course, there are a lot of potential problems. In order not to cause a mass migration from Colombia to Ecuador, "Registro Ampliado" moves from area to area for short periods of time and the organizers only announce the project a couple days in advance. Because of this, it is not yet known whether the majority of the Colombians living in isolated communities along the Ecuadorian border will ever hear about it. And if "Registro Ampliado" does succeed, there will be a massive new number of registered refugees that would then qualify for aid from humanitarian organizations. Funding, projects, and presence would have to increase exponentially.
It is a very exciting time to be doing this research in Ecuador. Up to this point, the "Mexico Plan of Action" has not really made a huge impact on the Colombian population outside of small-scale projects and a lot of discussion on the part of UNHCR and other organizations. But, like the "Registro Ampliado", UNHCR, civil society, and the Ecuadorian government have really been pushing forth projects and policies this past year that could make a hugely positive impact. My research here so far has combined interviews with UNHCR and numerous refugee aid organizations with surveys that I am conducting with the refugees themselves. So far I have conducted 76 surveys in Quito, Santo Domingo, Esmeraldas, Ibarra, and Tulcan (see the map below). It's a little to early to draw any definite conclusions and lot of the conclusions depend on how successful "Registro Ampliado" and other projects are implemented in the next few months before I leave.
I'm sorry for such a dense first post! My research is the basis for my experience here in Ecuador and I hope to share what I'm learning with as many people as possible. I promise to write more about my life here and my first 5 months next time! Love you all.
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