00:00There is a humanitarian crisis in Colombia that is happening far from the cameras.
00:03Entire communities that are prohibited from leaving their territories.
00:07Let's talk about the lockdown, the crisis we don't see.
00:10Juan is a fisherman and lives on the Colombian Pacific coast.
00:12For the past few weeks, he hasn't been able to go out and cast his nets.
00:15because an armed group has ordered restrictions on their movement.
00:18His children cannot access school and his wife,
00:21who needs medical treatment, cannot get to the hospital.
00:24The river is still there. So are the school and the health center.
00:28But there is an invisible barrier that no one can cross.
00:32Because doing so would put one's life at serious risk.
00:35Juan's story is one of the many that are happening in Colombia under lockdown.
00:39A kind of total confinement within the communities in which,
00:42According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
00:47There are more than 780,000 people who have been confined in the last decade.
00:52This victimizing act is not always reported.
00:55and it does not come to the attention of the authorities.
00:57Humanitarian organizations or the media.
01:01In many cases, communities prefer to remain silent.
01:04fearing reprisals from armed groups.
01:07Why is the lockdown happening?
01:09This is a victimizing act that is closely related
01:13with the dynamics of territorial control exercised by illegal armed groups.
01:18Many lockdowns are not due to an explicit order
01:21where someone says, they can't leave, but because the communities are caught in the middle
01:26of clashes between two armed groups vying for control of a territory.
01:31These dynamics may include the imposition of curfews,
01:35the control of strategic corridors and routes,
01:37and the installation of anti-personnel mines,
01:40which create an invisible barrier capable of keeping populations confined,
01:45even long after the confrontations end.
01:49Another noteworthy fact is that confinement not only prevents
01:52or limits the mobility of communities,
01:54but also the entry of aid organizations
01:57and basic elements such as water, food, and medicine,
02:01which turns this situation into a humanitarian crisis.
02:05The lockdown in the regions
02:07According to reports from the Ombudsman's Office,
02:09Chocó is the department most affected by the lockdown.
02:13During the first seven months of 2026,
02:15More than 13,950 people were affected in municipalities such as
02:21Alto Baudó, Atrato, Bajo Baudó, El Carmen de Atrato,
02:25The San Juan Coast, Nuki, Quibdó, Río Iro and Tadó.
02:29In other words, thousands of stories similar to Juan's are happening there.
02:32Putumayo follows with 12,646 people
02:36and Caquetá with 11,651.
02:39And that's how it's distributed throughout the rest of the country.
02:42The lockdown in the communities.
02:44The lockdown in Colombia also has a marked ethnic component.
02:47According to the Victims Unit,
02:49more than 64% of the affected people
02:52They belong to indigenous communities
02:54and more than 35% are black or Afro-Colombian people.
02:58That is, practically all cases
03:01It is concentrated in these two populations.
03:03In an interview with El Espectador,
03:05UNIC's Human Rights and Peace Advisor,
03:07Reeder Páinas Tacuás,
03:09explains that this type of dynamics
03:10It has a considerable impact on local customs
03:14of the indigenous populations,
03:15such as hunting, fishing, and gathering.
03:18This leader is calling on the government
03:19so that they can be included in spaces for dialogue
03:22that allow us to provide solutions
03:24to the communities affected by the armed conflict.
03:26The impact also extends significantly
03:29to the rural population.
03:30The report indicates that 87,899 people
03:34Those affected by the conflict have a peasant focus.
03:37This shows that confinement not only limits mobility,
03:41but it also directly impacts communities
03:44whose subsistence depends directly
03:46of activities such as agriculture,
03:48fishing and work in their territories.
03:50To do?
03:51The State has taken decades
03:53in realizing about the lockdown,
03:55even though there are reports dating back to the 1990s,
03:57But it's not too late to take care of it.
03:59Human rights organizations told us
04:02that to resolve the confinement,
04:04First, the absence of the State must be resolved.
04:06If there is a State, rights, officials, and institutions,
04:10It is much more difficult than an armed group.
04:13be master and owner of the confined territories.
04:16But if not, life in the communities
04:18will remain immersed in fear and confinement.
04:20Other voices say that the important thing is
04:22It's about applying the rules that already exist.
04:24and that have been strengthened for more than 30 years
04:26with a similar phenomenon that also leaves many victims,
04:30such as displacement.
04:31And how does that affect us?
04:33Not really much in the cities.
04:35But the same organizations that have served for years
04:38these humanitarian crises
04:39They point out that we are being silent witnesses
04:42of a war crime that continues to cause harm
04:44the life of the most remote communities in the country.
04:48Ultimately, it's the State and its institutions.
04:50those who have the obligation.
04:52From a humanitarian point of view,
04:54The most important thing is to achieve protection and assistance.
04:57to the population,
04:58but also that the State arrives
04:59and that it remains in the places
05:01where, as we know,
05:02Access is very, very difficult.
05:05But experts point out
05:06that the response needs to improve.
05:08The Norwegian Refugee Council
05:10considers that public policies
05:12must be implemented
05:13and the answer must be provided,
05:15Ideally, 72 hours
05:17from the moment the lockdown occurs.
05:20All with the aim of saving lives.
05:21We invite you to read us and visit us
05:24on all networks in Colombia Plus 20
05:26and in El Espectador.
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