They face security risks and economic difficulties. Just outside Neiva, capital of the southern province of Huila, Mencoldes staff have stood with a group of 143 displaced families who, growing tired of broken government promises, seized a government agency, then a highway, then finally took over some land just outside the city to install their houses of cardboard and plastic. Mencoldes provided a variety of support from legal advice to money to start a communal kitchen. Such new forms of accompaniment are dangerous in Colombia. Providing humanitarian assistance to the displaced is accepted by most people, but when you begin talking about the human rights of the displaced you're all of a sudden seen as subversive.
Social protest is criminalized in Colombia.
One who commits to justice here automatically converts into an enemy of those in power. This is the third of a series of three articles on ACT's website about Colombia's displaced. For photos about this topic, follow the link above. For a wider selection of photos, go to ACT member CCD's site.