Colombia/Panama: Fear for safety / fear or refoulement

Index Number: AMR 01/013/1996
Date Published: 28 November 1996
Categories: Americas

Refugee peasant farmers of the Uraba region, deported or facing deportation from Panama, internally displaced peasant farmers fleeing from Uraba: According to reports, some 400 peasant farmers and their families fled to Panama after violence broke out between leftist guerrillas and right wing paramilitary units operating in the Uraba region in Colombia. 88 Colombian refugees have been repatriated and this has raised fears for their safety and that of over 200 other refugees facing deportation by the Panamanian authorities. At least 75 peasant farmer families are said to have arrived in Apartado trying to escape from the violence in Uraba.