Ecuador, UNHCR Open
Refugee Office On Border
With Colombia
The Ecuadorian
government, along with a
delegation of the United
Nations High
Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), opened
a refugee office Friday
in Nueva Loja, a city
bordering Colombia.
Ecuadorian Foreign
Minister Maria Isabel
Salvador said the office
will help foreigners,
especially displaced
Colombians, seek safety
and refuge.
Salvador said the
refugee office opened in
the capital of Scumbios
province, in the Amazon
region on World Refugee
Day.
"Ecuador respects human
rights, therefore, we
welcome people forced to
leave their homeland to
a safe and calm life,"
she said.
Salvador added that 97
percent of the refugees
in the country are
Colombians and the
office expects to help
some 50,000 foreigners
seek refuge in Ecuador
up to June 2009.
This new office will
open on July 1 and more
offices are expected to
be opened to provide
assistance to foreigners
in other border
provinces, Salvador
added.
Ecuador has given
refugee status to 18,012
people between the year
2000 and May 2008,
making the country the
one that has welcomed
the largest number of
refugees in Latin
America.
According to data from
the UNHCR, there are
some 180,000 displaced
people in Ecuador due to
the violence in
Colombia.
Marta Juarez, UNHCR
representative in
Ecuador said many
refugees face
difficulties and
shortages when they
arrive in Ecuador.
Therefore, she
emphasized the
importance of a new
office to speed up and
improve assistance to
foreigners.
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