Colombia’s Humanitarian Crisis Deepens as UNHCR Faces Critical Funding Shortfall

The impact is most pronounced in high-conflict areas such as Catatumbo, along Colombia’s border with Venezuela.

As violence escalates and humanitarian needs intensify across Colombia, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is sounding a grave warning: years of hard-won progress in protecting and integrating displaced populations are at imminent risk of being reversed. The most vulnerable – including children, women, and displaced families – stand to bear the highest cost. Without immediate international support, refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and returnees could face repeated cycles of displacement and deeper instability.

A Heavy Burden: Colombia’s Displacement Crisis

Colombia hosts one of the world’s largest displaced populations. Over 7 million Colombians remain internally displaced by decades of conflict, while nearly 3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants have sought refuge in the country following Venezuela’s economic collapse. Additionally, more than 500,000 Colombian returnees have come back home, hoping to rebuild their lives.

Despite its internal challenges, Colombia has been a regional pillar of solidarity and compassion. Its government, often with UNHCR’s support, has pioneered progressive regularization programs for Venezuelans, invested in community stabilization initiatives, and worked tirelessly to help displaced Colombians return or integrate into new communities.

Funding Cuts Threaten Lifesaving Services

However, the situation has reached a tipping point. As international funding dwindles, UNHCR has been forced to scale back or suspend essential services that many depend on for survival and stability. Key programmes supporting conflict-affected communities, facilitating the safe return of displaced families, and regularizing informal urban settlements are either discontinued or significantly downsized.

These cuts threaten years of progress toward local integration, stability, and self-reliance for both refugees and displaced people. In particular, UNHCR’s suspension of legal aid, community support initiatives, and violence prevention services for women and girls is exacerbating vulnerabilities at a critical time.

The impact is most pronounced in high-conflict areas such as Catatumbo, along Colombia’s border with Venezuela. Following intensified clashes between non-State armed groups, over 63,000 people have been newly displaced—the largest mass displacement event ever recorded in Colombia’s history. Despite its leadership role in humanitarian response, UNHCR has had to halt the distribution of basic relief items such as mattresses, hygiene kits, solar lamps, blankets, and mosquito nets.

Vulnerable Populations Left Exposed

The funding crisis has rippled across every aspect of UNHCR’s operations:

• Child Protection Crisis: The suspension of child protection programs endangers thousands of children previously supported through safe environments and case management services. During 2024 alone, over 17,740 at-risk children were protected by these initiatives. Without them, vulnerable minors face heightened risks of recruitment by armed groups, exploitation, and abuse.

• Collapse of Regularization Efforts: Colombia’s commendable effort to regularize Venezuelans through initiatives like PEP Tutor faces a major setback. While UNHCR helped facilitate the issuance of over 100,000 identity cards, further support has been halted. Without official documentation, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans could lose access to healthcare, education, lawful employment, and protection from exploitation.

• Closure of Protection Centers: The shutdown of key Attention and Orientation Centres (PAO) in high-risk zones has cut off vital information, legal guidance, and access to basic services for around 100,000 people.

• Precarious Living Conditions: UNHCR has paused its critical support to government-led efforts to legalize informal settlements. Over 105,000 people, many of whom live in unsafe and unstable housing conditions, now face a grim future with no clear path toward stability, property rights, or access to essential services like water and electricity.

A Global Call for Urgent Solidarity

UNHCR urgently appeals to the international community for $118.3 million in funding needed to sustain its life-saving operations in Colombia through 2025. The situation is particularly dire considering the broader regional context: the Regional Response Plan for Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants across Latin America and the Caribbean requires $1.4 billion but is currently only 4.6% funded.

Without swift and substantial support, the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate, undoing Colombia’s extraordinary commitment to solidarity and risking the lives and futures of millions already living on the edge.

The international community must rise to match Colombia’s compassion with tangible support before more lives are pushed into deeper hardship, and hopes for lasting stability in the region are extinguished.