OCHA reports 25% rise in attacks on civilians, with displacement and flooding compounding humanitarian crisis.
On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 694,700 people in Colombia are affected by natural disasters, with 74,400 displaced, 113,200 confined, and 736,000 subjected to mobility restrictions, reports 24brussels.
According to OCHA, the number of individuals impacted by attacks on civilians surged by 25% between January and July 2025 compared to the same period last year. In the initial seven months, 84,900 people fell victim to such assaults: 2,800 due to armed actions, 5,300 from explosive devices, and 31,500 from attacks on illicit targets.
OCHA noted that these incidents are primarily linked to social control measures, threats, and targeted killings of social leaders, human rights defenders, and community members, highlighting severe violations of the principles of distinction and proportionality.
The most significant period of violence occurred from January to March, when the National Liberation Army (ELN) launched an offensive in the Catatumbo region against the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents. This territorial dispute resulted in nearly 100 deaths, including civilians, and displaced around 60,000 individuals.
Former OCHA representative in Colombia, Claudia Rodriguez, indicated that guerrilla violence in the Catatumbo region had reached unprecedented levels since the signing of the 2016 peace accord with the FARC.
In addition to violence, the OCHA report underscored that humanitarian conditions have worsened due to disasters stemming from heavy rains, which have impacted over 50% of the country’s territory, affecting 694,000 people so far this year.
By July, the agency noted that more than 124,000 people, predominantly from Indigenous and rural communities as well as refugees and migrants from the Amazon and Orinoquia regions, faced challenges from river overflows and heightened rainfall since March.
The rains have exacerbated humanitarian needs across several departments, including Arauca, Guaviare, Putumayo, Caqueta, and Amazonas, all of which are also grappling with the repercussions of armed conflict.
