1.3 million Colombian refugees dying of hunger, diseases
Colombians who have been forced from their homes by the conflict in their country, an estimated 1.3 million people, are dying of hunger and preventable diseases, according to a study presented on Wednesday.

Displaced Colombians have the highest index of poverty, the fewest employment opportunities and the largest number of basic deficiencies.

Nearly 99 percent of the displaced suffer from serious diseases caused by poor living conditions, such as living in shanty towns and storm drains, according to the study which had been commissioned by the United Nations, the European Union and the Pan-American Health Organization.

50 percent of pregnant women suffer from anemia, as do a similar number of children between two and four years old, said the report.

Peter Goossens, the World Food Program's representative in Colombia, said that 93 percent of the internal refugees are below the poverty line and suffer from diseases which are easily preventable.

"Malnutrition and hunger are silently and mercilessly killing these people," he said, adding that families of five to 10 people often survive on 92,000 Colombian pesos (42 U.S. dollars) a month.

Also on Wednesday, the Colombian National Planning Department published a study saying that some 22 million citizens were suffering from the effects of poverty.

Colombia has been locked in a four-decade long internal armed conflict, in which government forces, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitaries fight one another. The conflict kills around 5,000 people and displaces thousands of families each year.