The Red Cross said Tuesday it has moved into Colombia’s tense Choco department to offer assistance to displaced people pushed out by escalating violence.
According to a press release, aid workers were sent to Vigia del Fuerte, a town in Colombia’s poorest department, to deliver food to 350 displaced people.
The Red Cross said that violence between FARC and the Colombian military has forced 142 families in the region to leave their homes. The continuing conflict, marked by strikes conducted by the Colombian Air Force last week, has contributed to the severe food shortage in the western department.
“People moved a short distance,but there are restrictions on mobility to return to the farm, to pick crops and attend school,” said Jean-François Campagna, head of the Red Cross office in Quibdo.
The displaced are afraid to return to their homes due to suspected unexploded ordnances that may be present.
There have been reports of psychological trauma, skin disease and dehydration among the displaced, according to Campagna.
The tension in Choco coincides with an armed strike imposed by FARC on March 1, 2012.
