United Nations, December 3 (RHC)-- The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) drew attention this Sunday to the increase in massive displacements affecting thousands of people in the Colombian municipality of Alto Baudoin the east of the country.

After a massive displacement that occurred last November 18th in the rural area of this region, the number of displaced people reached 2,160, representing approximately 448 families.  Most of the victims belong to indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities.

The Ombudsman's Office in the department and the municipal administration recorded the confinement of approximately 680 people, members of 198 families, who are members of six indigenous communities on the Dubasa River.

For its part, the Municipal Coordinator for Victim Care requested that victims be given urgent psychosocial care and mental health support.

In mid-2019, the international organization reported that more than 118,000 Colombians fled their homes as a result of violence in their places of residence. It also denounced the fact that the country continues to have the largest number of displaced people in the world, with a national figure of eight million in recent years.

The clashes between illegal groups and drug cartels for territorial control are recurrent causes of displacement.  The department of Choco particularly suffers from violence, due to its strategic geographical position because cocaine is shipped to the United States through the Pacific.