BBC: Armed conflict threatening survival of tribes in Colombia

Friday, November 18, 2011  

"A group of men, women and children walk up a muddy hill carrying heavy bags filled with sand.

They all belong to the Awa tribe: indigenous people displaced by the Colombian conflict who are trying to build a new life.

Violence forced them out of their homeland in the mountains. Now they are trying to settle on 127 hectares (313 acres) of land provided by the government on the outskirts of Ricaurte, a small town in the south-western province of Narino.

We are half way between the Ecuadorean border and the Pacific Ocean, in a key territory for the Farc and ELN guerrilla groups, and for paramilitary drug trafficking gangs.

This is a corridor for drugs, weapons and, increasingly, armed men."

Get the Story:
Colombia's indigenous peoples face uncertain future (BBC News 11/18)

AlertNet: Awa Tribe in Colombia in danger of disappearing (10/20)