During the first semester of 2023, Quibdó is the municipality of origin of the largest number of displaced persons who have arrived in Medellín.
The Medellín Ombudsman revealed that during the first semester of 2023 at least 3,430 victims of forced displacement have arrived in the city, alerting that this drama remains one of the most pressing problems in the district in terms of human rights.
Despite this significant number, this body of the Public Ministry pointed out that the real number of displaced persons could be much higher, because many of the victims do not approach State institutions in search of help.
“There is an underreporting of people that could double this number, since they do not report it out of fear,” the entity said.
Luis Alejandro Monsalve, coordinator of the Ombudsman’s Human Rights Permanent Unit, warned that the municipalities of origin of a large part of the displaced correspond to Quibdó and subregions of Antioquia such as Urabá, North, Northeast and Bajo Cauca.
“The main problem that is seen for forced displacements to the city of Medellín are extortion, homicides, abandonment and dispossession of land, forced disappearance, among others,” said the public servant.
Likewise, according to the ombudsman’s office in its statement, of the 3,430 victims that rest in its records, 1,798 were women and 1,632 were men.
The list of territories with the highest number of victims of forced displacement who arrived in Medellín is headed by the capital of Chocó, Quibdó, with a total of 510 victims assisted by the Medellín Ombudsman.
Taking advantage of the high rates of poverty and unemployment (unemployment was at a rate of 26.2 in Quibdó with a cut last June and the incidence of monetary poverty in Chocó was 63.4% in 2021), illegal armed groups have managed to co-opt many young people to strengthen their footing and develop their illegal operations.
In second position is the municipality of Ituango, with a total of 172 victims of forced displacement.
In third position is the municipality of Turbo, in Urabá, with 135 cases, and in fourth position, Caucasia, in Bajo Cauca, with 120 cases.