Colombia Protection Analysis Update - Arauca

Available in English and Spanish | Disponible en inglés y español

Arauca is one of the departments bordering Venezuela most heavily impacted by the armed conflict. It has a population of 317.398, Of these 75.102 originate from Venezuela, representing 2.74 % of the Venezuelan population residing in Colombia. The armed conflict stems from disputes over territorial, political, and economic control – including key mobility corridors – and is characterized by the presence of dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Hostilities have severely impacted the civilian population, particularly community leaders and human rights defenders.

Protection risks are closely tied to human mobility, which challenges the authorities’ capacity to respond, and impacts of natural disasters, in a context marked by overlapping crises that disproportionately affect conflict-affected individuals, refugees and migrants. About 96 % of Venezuelan nationals in Arauca are concentrated in four municipalities, of which 63 % reside in the Arauca municipality and the other 33% in Arauquita, Tame, and Saravena municipalities. To date, four Indigenous peoples from Venezuela (Eñepa, Inga, Yaruro, and Jivi) have established settlements in Arauca. They are severely affected by a lack of identity documentation, the absence of formal recognition as binational or cross-border communities, and the restriction of their ancestral mobility patterns by migration policies.

The principal protection risks requiring immediate attention during the period covered by this analysis are:

1. Illicit impediment and restriction of freedom of movement, confinement, and forced displacement
2. Discrimination, stigmatization and denial of access to services for Venezuelan refugees and migrants
3. Conflict-related gender-based violence
4. Psychological/emotional abuse or inflicted stress
5. Recruitment, use, and exploitation of children and adolescents by armed groups