J. Sebastian Jaramillo Salazar.

European Policy and Practice towards Ethnic Minorities

The Case of the Colombian Migration and Minority in Ecuador.

Introduction.

The presence of Colombian citizens on Ecuadorian soil is not new. On the contrary, in border zones it has been common to see emigration of Colombians and Ecuadorians into each others counties. However, massive numbers of Colombians looking to flee to Ecuador has never occurred.

The panorama has been changing lately, and has changed drastically since the second semester of 2000. The massive flows of people looking for refuge coincide with the growing criminality and violent incidents in Colombia, and with the “Colombia Plan” launched by the USA government, which consist of destroying the coca crops in the Colombian Amazonas. These people have become more popular in Ecuador, and at the same time, the period of stay of the refugees has become longer, and in many cases, permanent.

The beginning of the exodus.

In September of 2000, the armed strike of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) caused the massive departure of hundreds of farmers of the Putumayo district in Colombia. As a consequence of this, in October of the same year 1.100 persons were registered as “temporary refugees” in the city of “Lago Agrio,” located on the border with Colombia. Ever since, the increase of applications of Colombian asylum seekers in Ecuador has grown up exponentially. Official numbers presented by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, point out that between the years 2000 and 2003 the number of applications has grown by 3000%. According to this information, the most critical year was 20003, in which the Ecuadorian government received 11.388 applications, which means that almost 1000 per month were received. This numbers showed serious doubts in the efficacy of the “democratic security policy” of the Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who became president under this slogan one year before.

All this migratory flows can bring several questions to the host country and one of the most important is in words of Kuper,2001 that “There are two quite antithetical traditions ……..in the nature of societies characterised by pluralism. In the first tradition, the stability of plural societies is seen as precarious and threatened by sharp cleavages between different plural sections, whose relations to each other are generally characterised by inequality.”

Actual situation.

In 2004, there might be a small decrease in the number of refugee applications presented by Colombian citizens. Nevertheless we must point out that this decrease has not been constant (March, for example, registers an increase in relation with the first two months of the year of more than 1.200 applications) and we cannot say that this decrease will be permanent. The fact that less people are asking formally for refugee status could be related with the new migratory measures imposed lately by the Ecuadorian government to Colombian citizens, rather than because of an increase of security in Colombia, a country where more and more violent events occur everyday. Even more between January and September of 2004, there has been an increase of resettlement cases of refugees to third countries (approximately 200). This means people, whose security is not guaranteed in Ecuador because they are persecuted by armed Colombian groups or are in risk by many other factors.

In total Ecuador has received more than 30.000 refugee applications between 2000 and September of 2004, and from all of these, only 7.990 persons have been recognized as refugees. Nevertheless, it is important to clarify that this registered population represents only a small part of the Colombians who have entered Ecuador in recent years as a result of the armed conflict in Colombia. Recent studies show that the applications presented are less than 50% of the amount of Colombians who have arrived in Ecuador. This means that most of the Colombian refugees don’t ask for international protection in a formal way. There are many reasons for this including, they don’t know the process, they are afraid to be relocated and then killed by the Colombian armed groups, or they are afraid of being deported by the Ecuadorian government in case their applications were rejected, which has been happening lately.

The phenomenon of the Colombian refugee in Ecuador is characterized by the lack of juridical protection and the social invisibility of this huge group. Ecuadorian authorities estimate than more than 400.000 Colombians live in Ecuador illegally or in some kind of irregular migratory situation. Many in this group support themselves by having relatives or friends who have access to housing or jobs in the informal market (street trade of products, domestic labor, agriculture, construction, etc, etc.). Nevertheless, the anonymity of this group, sometimes assumed as techniques of defense against the armed groups, and also the stigmata of being “refugee” also bring risks and lots of limitations like loss of rights, labor abuse, blackmailing, unjust detentions among others as it has been already reported by Colombian and Ecuadorian media and NGO’s.

The problem has been ignored by both governments, who have tried to make it invisible, or not give it the importance it deserves. In fact, until the end of the year 2003, in which Ecuador received more than one thousand applications per month, the topic was not part of the bilateral agenda of both countries, even in the declaration of both presidents in Quito in 2003 they didn’t even talk about the refugee problem, they just briefly talked about the irregular situation of Colombian and Ecuadorian citizens in both republics. In the next year 2004 the problem wasn’t part of the agenda either.

It’s very sad that none of the president´s talked about it like we studied in Rogers,1992. He says, “The nation-state is not only, or primarily, an ethnodemographic phenomenon, or a set of institutional arrangements………. is also, crucially, a way of thinking about and appraising political and social membership,…………….debates about the citizenship status of immigrants remain in large part debates about nationhood ……….. about what it means, and what it ought to mean, to belong to a nation-state.” Without any doubt, this statement is one hundred percent true, especially in countries in Latin American, where this kind of problems make us rethink about our origin and our social membership

Profile of the refugee population.

In Ecuador, there is very little information about the profile of the Colombians that have arrived to Ecuadorin the last years as a result of the Colombian conflict. According to the latest statistics of the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is not much information about sex, age, or ethnical group of the petitioners. The statistics of the petitioners are not homogeneous and the experiences we know of this population show different needs, specifics, and differentiated problems. In the best of the cases, the intents to visualize the problems and population of vulnerable and private groups of the refugees (women, for example) have not been very successful, and most of them have fallen victim. The intents haven’t been helpful solving problems.

The little available information (dispersed and very local) suggests that the profile of the Colombian population in situation of refuge has changed quickly, becoming increasingly more heterogeneous. Thus, Ecuador now receives rural farmers, with low levels of formal education, concentrated mainly in Lago Agrio and Esmeraldas (Both provinces in the north of Ecuador), as well as, professionals of urban origin and activists of human rights, who are living in cities as Quito and others smaller cities like Ibarra. Some studies suggest that while the peasants that have arrived in Lago Agrio flee mainly because of the generalized violence in the zone of the Colombian Putumayo, the professionals and activists of human rights come to Ecuador as a result of other things, such as personal threats.

Recent investigations also stand out. For example, in recent years a very young refugee population has entered Ecuador. The Ecuadorian Foundation, Fabián Ponce indicates that 21% of the applicants of Colombian refuge are in school age. Other NGOs, as well as people that work directly with refugee population, assure that each time more family head women come to Ecuador, several of them widowed and some pregnant. Many of these Colombians, in situations of refuge, arrive alone or with their children, and they find very few labor opportunities (domestic positions, sexual work), especially in the frontier zones of Ecuador.

After checking and studying the experiences, problems and needs of the Colombians refugees, we tend to make the situation invisible or to simplify it, especially of young, adult women, girls and children, that live different experiences. Some investigations assure that the refugee women without documents are especially vulnerable to abuses and to sexual blackmail. At the same time, the women adopt strategies of resistance against the violence in Colombia and they can show special abilities to respond better in Ecuador living as refugees. In the case of children and young refugees, the major problem they face is the difficulty to access to education. Thus, a regional study assures that in Ecuador only 46% of the children of Colombians in situation of refuge attend schools and high schools. The situation of the ethnic minorities is still more invisible.

Thus it is really important to find a different approach in the compilation of information, protection and assistance to the refugee population. This approach is indispensable for a better understanding of the diverse experiences of violence faced by the refugee. It is also important for evaluating the situation of protection of each group (men, women, kids, elderly, etc), and for planning and assisting in a better way the problems and specific needs, specially for the most vulnerable groups. “It is important to note that different treatment can be meted out, not only in an unjust way, but also as part of the furtherance of ‘equal opportunities’”. (Bagihole,1997)

The refuge cross from the borders to the interior of Ecuador.

The arrival of Colombian refugees in Ecuador has stopped being a process linked exclusively to border zones. Although the Ecuadorian provinces of the north border (Sucumbíos, Imbabura, Carchi and Esmeraldas) have receivied Colombians refugees for a couple of years, this phenomenon has extended to cities of the interior of the country, like Quito, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Guayaquil and even Cuenca, wich is a city very faraway from the Colombian border. This last city deserves special attention, because between January and September of this year received 826 requests of refuge in comparison to 532 of all the previous year, what represents an important percentage of all the requests received (12,8%). Therefore, today the phenomenon of the Colombian refuge in Ecuador is characterized by the dispersion, that leads at some moments to a pluralistic society behavior in the sense of Kuper, because it increases the separation between people and despite the fact that we are racially very similar, there can be some serious distinctions and discrimination to the refugees based on race or skin color.

We can see today that the cities of the border zones get less and less refuge aplications and cities of the interior like Quito have become the cities with the most aplications according to the statistics of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and another studies with Colombians that have not asked for asylum formally.

The process of dispersion of the Colombian refuge can be explained by the circumstance of that the provinces of the north border of Ecuador offer very few economic and labor opportunities for Ecuadorians as for Colombians, although there are zones with large cultural and natural richness, are also especially vulnerable regions. Sucumbíos and Esmeraldas show high levels of poverty, malnutrition, insecurity and deficit of the basic social services higher than the national average, besides problems of social exclusion and institutional weakness. Paradoxically, in the north border exist strong blood, commerce and historical ties that join the habitants of Colombia and Ecuador, and at the same time poverty that complicates the processes of integration between Ecuadorians and Colombian. It is interesting to see that despite of the similarities it is so difficult to find solutions despite the fact that we are very similar people. We can say that we are still or we have at least the mentality of a pluralistic society, in which one dominant group in this case the Ecuadorians are over the other one, the Colombians.

Conclusions.

This is a very big conflict today in Ecuador and it is characterized by many factors and problems that make it more complicated, it has been hard to talk about it in so few pages and try to mention the most important factors of it, but we can definitely say something about this:

The high levels of violence and insecurity in the north border are the main reason for the big migratory flow from Colombia to Ecuador. The same problems also would explain why the population in these situations of refuge prefer to move to cities of the interior.

According to a report of the Organization of United Nations in Ecuador, the homicides are the second cause of death in the frontier provinces of Sucumbíos and Esmeraldas. These crimes are related directly or indirectly with the drug traffic and revenge by national people and foreigners linked somehow to Colombian irregular groups.

It’s also important to say that a very big group of Colombians come to Ecuador as a result of the “Plan Colombia” launched by the USA government which consist in fumigate with Fosarium Oxisporum (a highly destructive substance) the coca crops in the Colombian Amazonas. Unfortunately, the poison not only destroys the coca, it also destroys the water in the rivers, and all kinds of life, crops, animals and the people, something too complicated to see for the USA. These sorts of fumigations destroy the soil in such a way that the land will not be able to produce anything in at least the next 25 years after the fumigation.

It is important to indicate that the refugee population can find in the large cities of the interior of Ecuador more and better labor options, security, but at the same time, in those cities (Quito and Guayaquil, for example), where it is the presence of Colombian citizens is less usual. These ones can find a bigger environment of stigmatization and discrimination. Even one report of the United Nations indicates that "there is a generalized feeling to blame the Colombians" for the problems of violence, criminality and unemployment that affect Ecuador. A great part of these accusations are made with little basis and even with evidence that shows the opposite.

This problem is very long and complicated but I think an interesting quote is that “If we are to develop coherent political structure for a multicultural society,we need to appreciate the importance of both unity and diversity and establish a satisfactory relationship between them.” (Parekh, 2000). Hopefully, we will get better and reach one day where a more acceptable balance and justice for all, unfortunately because of the complexity of the topic, migration is difficult now. Like we read before in this world there is a free movement of, money, goods, information, but not of people.

Bibliography

-"Refugiado/as colombiano/as en Ecuador:Tendencias y respuestas del Estado y la sociedad civil"Serie "Normas y estándares nacionales e internacionales de derechos humanos", nº 1. Pablo A. de la Vega M. Martha Cecilia Ruiz
Primera Edición: Diciembre del 2004, Quito Ecuador.

-Articles of the Centro de Documentación en Derechos
Humanos "Segundo Montes Mozo S.J." (CSMM)
Quito-Ecuador

-Lectures from the reader:

Brubaker, Rogers (1992) "Civic and ethnic nations in France and Germany"

Rex, John (2001) „The concept of a multicultural society

Kymlicka, Will (2001)” Western Political Theory and Ethnic Relations in Eastern Europe”

Eriksen H, Thomas (1996): Ethnicity, Race, Class and Nation

Van den Berghe, Pierre: “Does race matter?”