Colombian Refugee Claimants - FARC/ELN

Just had two successful hearings (both Colombians). While the Member of the RPD (Refugee Protection Division) had issues with whether the claimants would now be at any risk should they return to Colombia, the following documentary evidence was corroborative of the risk faced by anyone in Colombia fearing persecution/risk to life from the FARC/ELN - it's a RIR (Response to Information, basically research done by the IRB's Research Directorate): Download c16_col41770e.pdf

Here are some notable excerpts:

A number of Colombia experts consulted by the Research Directorate characterized the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC) and United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC) as groups that are capable of carrying out operations throughout the country...

The associate professor at Stetson University College of Law indicated that members of the FARC, ELN and AUC are present in "nearly all the urban centers of any note in Colombia" ...

According to the Georgetown University adjunct professor, both the guerrillas and paramilitary groups

often employ highly sophisticated data bases and computer networks. An individual who is threatened in one area of the country will not be notably safer by relocating to another. Depending on the nature and reasons for the threat, the victims can be pursued relentlessly. There are countless stories of men and women receiving threats in Bogotá or Medellín after relocating from another area and attempting to live anonymously in the big city. Many have been killed after seeking refuge in another part of the country. There are also cases of people leaving the country for a period of months or years, and then being killed after returning. Memories are long and data is systematically recorded and analysed ...

It is virtually impossible to relocate from one part of the country to another without someone taking note. Regional identity is very important. Skin color, colloquial mannerisms and customs, speech inflections and social orientation to the external environment all work to make it difficult for a Colombian individual to hide his or her roots or social origins. ...