Doña Consuelo Hernández.
“On May 22, 2011, armed men invaded our home and shot my oldest son to death. I don't know why they killed him. He was popular with everybody. It had always been quiet in our town, but recently it had become very violent. Many people have fled.”
The day after the funeral the armed men appeared again and threatened the rest of the family, without saying why. The same day all 32 members of the Hernández family fled.
The family consists of 22 members living in the same house, ten family members are housed nearby.
A family recently fled from the south of Colombia to Ecuador. They now live with 22 family members in a one room house. They fled by crossing the river, which marks the border between Ecuador and Colombia. On May 22 2011, armed men entered their house and killed the son, on May 24 was the funeral and a day after the armed men appeared again, threatening them. They fled instantly the same day. They don't know the reasons for the attack.
Jorge Hernández.
Jorge, doña Consuelo's great-uncle, is the oldest of the family. He and his wife Mary raised doña Consuelo.
Around the Hernández home in northern Ecuador.
All of the residents here are Columbian refugees, driven out by armed gangs. Ecuador harbors an estimated 135,000 Colombians, the largest number of refugees in in all of Latin America. Officially 54,000 of them are recognized.
'I am 15 years old. In the town I lived in Colombia people came to have their nails done. I would like to start a manicure business here, but I lack the money to buy the necessities. What I had I left behind in Colombia when we had to flee.'
Doña Consuelo's daughter Amalia.
Amalia earns a little as a manicurist. She would like to start her own business, but doesn't have the money to buy the necessary tools. She had them in Colombia, but she had to leave everything behind when she fled.
Doña Consuelo and her husband Miguel.
Most of the refugees – largely women and children from poor families – end up in the slums around cities like Esmeraldas, Tulcan, or the capital Quito. The number of internal refugees within Colombia itself is estimated to be as high as two to three million.
Andrea, Amalia, Carolina, Jorge and Carmen Hernández
Fish is the most important part of the family's diet.
The Hernández family keep alive thanks to fishing. They share a boat with several neighbors. In addition, the United Nations refugee organization UNHCR sometimes provides food parcels. Most of the Colombian refugees are in Ecuador illegally, and survive as street vendors or by begging in the cities. The Hernández family have only been in Ecuador for a short time, and have yet to find a place in this informal economy.
At night they lay out mattresses on the floor of the one room, so that everyone has a place to sleep. The bedding was obtained from the UNHCR.
The neighbor boy, who also fled to Ecuador
Ecuador is not the only country which has been affected by the armed conflict in Colombia. The whole region, including Venezuela, Brazil and Peru, has to cope with the refugees and the violence, kidnappings and extortion by armed groups.
A family recently fled from the south of Colombia to Ecuador. They now live with 22 family members in a one room house. They fled by crossing the river, which marks the border between Ecuador and Colombia.
The neighbor's children on the dock
The Colombian government has begun a special program for the repatriation of refugees and compensation for the losses they incurred. The Hernández family would like to go back, but are afraid. They presently prefer an uncertain future in Ecuador to the anxiety about being killed in Colombia.
Jorge and Amalia Hernández
