Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Quito (Agenzia Fides) - Every day a new stratagem is invented, how to get from one city to another or how to change look with clothes and haircuts. Jose L. prefers to remain anonymous to avoid being captured by armed men who pursue him. He left his country after having escaped a kidnapping by irregular groups and arrived in Ecuador by land in search of refuge. "I came with nothing, thinking that I would find a better future here, because here there were no problems I had in my land, it was easier to cross the border, I could stay in a village not too far away".
This is the story published in a newspaper of Quito, of which a copy was sent to Fides, on the Day of Refugees. Similar reasons to those of Jose L. have driven most of the refugees now living in Ecuador. 98.5% are from Colombia and the majority are women and children. This number makes Colombia the country with the largest number of people welcomed in other Latin American nations, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The different organizations that work with this population group, such as the Mission of the Scalabrinians in Ecuador, reveal that the response of the Ecuadorian State and bodies engaged in this sector is still too limited.
Janeth Ferreira, director of the Scalabrini Foundation, said in her speech in the newspaper of Quito that "the State legalizes only refugee status, granting visas. But as regards to social services, such as the protection and integration, there is virtually no contribution from the Government". Instead, she adds, somehow there are administrative difficulties for the annual renewal of visas, especially for those living in border areas like San Lorenzo and need to travel to the offices of Quito, Tulcan or Ibarra for paperwork.
"There is no point in having 54,000 recognized refugees, if not enough attention and security is given", denounces Ferreira, adding that many refugees are forced to remain housebound for fear of being persecuted also in Ecuadorian territory. "The State does not give them security". This is why Jose L. prefers to be in constant rotation throughout the country. One day, walking the streets of a city in Ecuador, he recognized one of his kidnappers, so he quickly changed city to avoid any risk
Janeth Ferreira says that "some people do not even want the card of refugee. In fact, if you apply for a job or rent a house, when you show your identity document on which the word 'refugiado' is written, people look at you with fear". In many schools and health centers they say "there is no place for Ecuadorians, let alone foreigners".
The director of the Scalabrini Foundation says that assistance depends very much on what civil society organizations realize. But the work is isolated, in the absence of public policy in this regard. The only proposal of the State, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is the annual visa renewal and updating of information. On the occasion of World Refugee Day, Antonio Gutierres, responsible of UNHCR in Quito, announced that about 1,000 refugees will leave Ecuador to go to the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil and Chile (EC) (Agenzia Fides , 06/22/2011)
