GENEVA, Switzerland, April 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. refugee agency is calling for the protection of thousands who fled their homes in Colombia to escape fighting between government and rebel forces.
In the past two weeks more than 6,000 people have taken refuge in El Charco and La Tola, two small towns north of the Nariño region in southern Colombia, Ron Redmond, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman, said Tuesday.
"The conflict in Nariño has been intense for over a year, and UNHCR is extremely worried that civilians continue to suffer in large numbers," Redmond told reporters in Geneva.
Local officials opened schools and other public buildings to shelter the displaced, but there is still a scarcity of clean water and basic health supplies, said UNHCR. In El Charco, only one out of every 30 people who arrived last week had a mattress on which to sleep.
Redmond said UNHCR will send a mission this week to the worst-affected areas but added the presence of the humanitarian staff cannot guarantee security.
Colombia is a primary concern to UNHCR, with some 3 million people uprooted by more than 40 years of fighting between the government, leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and criminal gangs. Internally displaced persons represent approximately 8 percent of the total population of more than 40 million, said UNHCR.
