ReliefWeb

Highlights

• Over 18,000 Colombians have been expelled or pushed to return suddenly from Venezuela during the past two and a half weeks, as a result of the official border closure in Norte de Santander Department and the on-going police operation in four departments. Colombia’s President has declared a state of calamity in four departments.

• Thousands of families have been forced to flee without personal belongings, documentation or basic supplies, and have settled in shelters and informal sites along the border. Situation may become prolonged.

• The shelters of Norte de Santander lack basic amenities, with insufficient water, sanitation and hygiene services and serious challenges to the security, privacy and dignity of children caught up in the mass displacement. The majority of affected children are living in informal settlement areas around Cúcuta, where conditions are even more precarious.

• UNICEF and partners have initiated relief operations to support several thousand displaced children and their families in the sectors of WASH, education and child protection. UNICEF is distributing hygiene promotion materials, designing toilets/showers for the shelters and will construct a few units for immediate installation.

• UNICEF child protection experts are working closely with the Colombian Family Welfare Institute to provide psychosocial support in shelters and schools, as well as some degree of normalcy through organized recreational and educational activities. Guidelines on care for unaccompanied children were developed with UNHCR and shared with Government counterparts.