Bringing peace to Colombia...or finding the peace that is already here

We had our final meeting here in Bogota this morning, a meeting with members of the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church Peace and Justice Committee.  I have been impressed with the commitment and knowledge of the people on this committee.  They understand the situation from many different perspectives because of their professions.  There are lawyers, psychologists and human rights leaders and social workers who bring their professional experience to the important work of accompanying displaced people, and I am humbled to think that we have something to offer them.

They wanted to hear especially about what we learned in Ecuador and what the possibilities were of finding safety there.  Unfortunately, I do not think that what they heard gave them much hope for finding a safe place for the displaced people they want to relocate.  In short we described the changing legal situation for Colombians there and also the challenges that Colombia refugees face in Quito.  On the positive side, we talked about some of the partners there who are doing similar work that they are doing in Bogota.

As we talked, we began thinking about other options for finding safety for displaced people.  It seems like there are other options that need to be checked out to find safety, which will hopefully take the form of a community of support somewhere safe.  What that will look like, we do not know.

At the end of the meeting, Peter Stucky, the pastor of the church said, "Well, I guess we just need to find a way to bring peace to Colombia."  To which I replied, "Ultimately, yes, that is right.  When people ask me what my job is, I do not say that it is to bring more refugees to Canada.  My goal is to see a world where there are no more refugees."

I do not  make light of Peter's comments.  He has lived in Colombia most of his life and has seen a lot of suffering.  He knows better than me how difficult it is to bring peace to this situation.  I also know that he knows our ultimate goal is to bring peace and he knows better than most how difficult that is.  But I also know that he and many of the other people we meet with these days in Colombia and Ecuador also believe that there are things that we can do to bring peace to this situation.  Everyone we talked to both in Bogota and Quito explained in great detail what the problems are, but there always seemed to be some level of hope that things could be better, not just for their own situation but for the whole region.  While I can talk about bringing peace to this place, I think these people are finding the peace that is already here, and they are trying to nurture it so that it grows.

That is probably what Ed, Orlando and I need to take back to Canada with us.  We need to help the people we are in contact with among MCC staff and the churches we relate to in Canada understand the difficulty of the situation here, the importance of  the intervention by North Americans, and also that sense of hope that we work at promoting peace.

This trip has been a lot of hard work, and I have heard a lot of difficult stories, sometimes told through tears.  There have of course been good times as well and I have really enjoyed spending time with these people.  When I go home, I will try and bring these stories there, but also hold out the hope that together we can work to bring peace.

Drawing conclutions in Ecuador

Meeting with members of the Quito Mennonite Church

This morning, or last morning in Quito, we had a meeting with some people from the Quito Mennonite Church and also from the Trisha from the Episcopalian Church in Quito who has partnered with the Mennonites.  We focused on three things.

• What the Episcopalian and Mennonite Churches there have been doing so far.
• What we heard from the various agencies and people we visited with in the last few days.
• How can we think about responding to the needs of refugees better

I think it was truly impressive to hear what the church has done with so little resources.  As is so often the case in situations like this, they saw far more need than they could respond to.  Of particular concern was meeting the "pastoral needs" of those whom they come in contact with.  They understand that while trying to help people meet the material needs of the church, it was important to help them make theological sense of what they were doing.  I think there are people well equipped to think about these issues, and it was interesting to hear their reflections.

As we looked ahead, it was clear that we are moving into a time with some uncertainty as the protection structure set up by the Ecuadoran government changes, and more Colombians make their way to Ecuador.  I think we agreed that this group could learn a lot from the Colombian Mennonite Church and how they accompany displaced people, and there was some interest in some consultation between the two groups.

Ultimately, it seemed like the most important thing that the group can do is to continue what they have been doing: to be with people who are displaced and to help them think about solutions to their problem.  Mostly it seem that just being with displaced people is most important.

The vegetables at the Quito Mennonite farm.

Chickens at the Quito Mennonite farm

Bogenvelia at the farm.

After the meeting, we were invited out to a project of the church.  They were offered a small farm for a fairly inexpensive rent.  They have been planting corn, green vegetables and they are also raising chickens for eggs and meat.  It was good to get out of the city.

Tomorrow we have a similar meeting with the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church in Bogota.  We will see where that discussion leads us.

Migrating to Nowhere Land

I cannot help it.  Given where we were today, I have to get technical. For those of you who don't care about that, I have put in a pictures of a cathedral near where we had lunch.  By the way, we ate lunch at a Colombian restaurant, which was pretty good.  

We have heard from the UNHCR and others that as of late about 1,500 Colombians are claiming asylum in Ecuador every month.  That high number, which does not include the Colombians who enter and do not claim asylum, indicates that there is still a clear safety concern in Colombia and that it continues to increase.

Before we came here, we heard that life for Colombians in Ecuador was generally not good because of discrimination.  Today the focus was on the legal challenges of Colombians who try and claim asylum in Ecuador.  Our first stop this morning was at an organization called Asylum Access Ecuador.  We met with the director and the coordinator of legal services who explained legal frame work that Colombian asylum seekers face and the changing landscape of this.

The coordinator of legal services began his talk with us by saying, “We are in nowhere land.”  He was referring to challenges with the changing legal definitions for asylum that the Ecuadorian government is implementing, but it seemed like a good description of the plight of Colombians who try and come to Ecuador in search of security.  They often get nowhere. 

The most significant change this year is that a preliminary screening when a person first makes an asylum request has been added to the process.  Their first step now is an assessment of “admissibility.”  Basically that means in a short ten to fifteen minute interview a government official will see if they meet the basic definition of a convention refugee  (for you policy geeks out there, they also apply the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees to their assessment). 

About 26% do not pass that test and are either turned away from entry or are told to apply for some other visa such as a tourist visa.  The next step is to get a full Refugee Status Determination (RSD) from a judicial committee.  We were told that last year, about 70% of applicants were given asylum.  However, recently there has been an extreme drop off on asylum being granted.  As of this year, we were told by the Asylum Access staff only about 10% of applicants are getting asylum.

There seems to be something wrong here.  There are more Colombians crossing the border these days, and their life is very harsh, both in urban and rural areas.  Given what we have been hearing, it seems highly unlikely that these people would be migrating for economic reasons.  Ecuador is for the most part a poorer country with seemly fewer opportunities and there is a high level of discrimination against Colombians.  It is hard to imagine these people coming here for reasons other than asylum. 

It appears that this limiting of access to asylum and Refugee Status Determination (RSD) mechanisms is a disturbing trend, not just here, but perhaps in Canada given recently tabled legislation.  I have wondered today if given that the 1951 Convention is fairly well defined, a more effective way to limit access to it is to put up barriers to access to the mechanism, by either trying to keep potential asylum seekers out physically, or raising the bar to get to the mechanism to RSD.  There also seems to be attempts in the region to depoliticize the conflict.  If the perpetrators of threats or violence are considered “armed groups” and not political groups, then people crossing borders because of the threat of violence are not really convention refugees.

After meeting with Asylum Access, we were able to meet with the Ecuadorian National Coordinator of Refugees.   He was able to confirm the information that we got from Asylum Access.  While he expressed the governments concern for asylum seeker and their desire to make sure that asylum seeker received services from the government, he also said that the trend was fewer Colombians were getting asylum in Ecuador.

The MCC delegation at the UNHCR Ecuador office.  Brian Dyck, Ed Wiebe, Orlando Vasquez, Jennifer Chappell-Deckert and Bonnie Klassen.

After a lunch we closed out our meetings with the very amicable staff at the UNHCR to follow up on some discussion.  Remarkably we found out that one of the staff there had just come back from working with the UNHCR in Damascus, and she was very aware of MCC’s work with the Palestinian refugees who had fled Iraq and were living in the Al Hol camp in Syria.  We were able to get a few updates on that situation.

We talked mostly about possibilities of how MCC could be involved in resettlement of refugees to Canada from Ecuador or helping provide support to Colombian refugees in Ecuador.  We left agreeing to stay in contact.

Tomorrow we will have our last day in Ecuador.  We plan to tie up a few loose ends with the church here and from there we are back in Bogota for about 24 hours and then back to Canada just in time for Thanksgiving.

LIfe in Quito

The UN office in Quito, Ecuador

Here in Quito on Wednesday morning we started our day with a meeting at the United Nations High Commission for Refugees’ office.  Our main goal was to find out what life was like for Colombian refugees in Ecuador.  There was some technical discussion about legal status and durable solutions, but the basic message was that life for Colombians in this country is very difficult.  While there were some benefits for them to be there, in general the 600,000 Colombians in Ecuador face a lot of hardships based on discrimination.  It is because of this that the UNHCR has highlighted Colombian in Ecuador as one of their high priority areas.

After lunch, we went to the main Mennonite Church in Quito and had a meeting with about 15 Colombians (including children).  They had been in Ecuador from about 4 years to just a few months.  At that meeting, they detailed for us the problems that the UNHCR staff hinted at.

The Quito Mennonite Church meets in a house they rent.  The pastor says there are about 40 members, but they will have as many as 50 or 60 on a Sunday

Employment  Colombians in Ecuador face a great deal of discrimination, they find it difficult to get jobs, and if they do get a job their pay is less than an Ecuadoran will be paid.  Often they will be asked to work for a trial period at the beginning with no pay that can last for a week or more.  When they do get paid, it is not unusual for them to be paid much less than what was promised for them.

School It can be difficult for them to find a school that will take their children.  One mother said that she went to several schools and when they found she was a Colombian they turned her down.  Another said that the other children treat her child poorly and the teachers are basically bullying their children.  There were stories of teachers dumping the children’s school bags out in front of the class.  Another said that her son often has a stomach ache and does not want to go to school.

Health Care Many said that doctors and clinics do not want to see them and they do not have money for the medicine that might be prescribed. 

Transportation Taxis are fairly cheap in Quito, since fuel is cheap (about $1.50/US gal.)  A number of people said that when a taxi driver hears their Colombian accent they will ask them to get out.  One woman who has an Afro-Colombian husband said taxis rarely stop for him.  Afro-Colombians seem to suffer even more discrimination than other Colombians.

Identity Card Related to all of this is the refugee identity card that they need to carry.  The process when they get to Ecuador is to apply for refugee status with the Ecuadorian government.  When they have this, the government will consider their asylum case.  To hear that case can take about a year and in that time they need to have their refugee identity card which must be renewed every three months.  The card gives them certain rights to work and get health care.  Without a card they cannot do things like access services or even make a police report.  Some Colombians who have been trying to keep a low profile have received threats from some of the armed groups from Colombia while they were in Ecuador.  If they do not have a refugee card, they will not take their statement, so in essence, the crime did not happen.

The meeting was highly emotional as people talked their experience, with tears and raised voices.  It was clear that these people were not here because life was easier here. It was here because they did not feel safe in their homes.  Many of them said their children wanted to go home, but they said they just did not feel safe there anymore.  

Food parcels in the Quito Mennonite Church kitchen.

There is some help.  MCC has provided a bit of money and in the kitchen of the church there were some food packages that they are able to distribute.  It seems however, that like in Bogota the community support is one of the most significant aspects of the support.  At the Mennonite Church and the Episcopalian Church in Quito that they partner with, they have a “Ministry of Accompaniment.”  As part of that, they also have a “Moment for Peace” gathering on Wednesday like the Tuesaquillio Mennonite Church.  

The food parcels contain things like, maze flour, beans, powdered milk and oatmeal.

Crossing the Border

This morning we packed our bags, and went to the airport in Bogota.  The trip was short and uneventful.  We went through the normal things that air travellers are familiar with.  We waited in several lines, were given tickets, put our luggage on conveyor belts and eventually got on a plane.  It was easy.  However, without the little blue book with our name and photo that we each carried, it would have been impossible. 

In some ways citizenship can seem somewhat arbitrary.   For all but one of us, we have our citizenship because our mother happened to be in Canada or the US when we were born (Orlando is a naturalized Canadian).   I sometimes wonder how come that matters so much.

Tomorrow we will meet with people whose journeys who perhaps do not have such a book and whose journey into Ecuador was not so easy.  Perhaps some will see having a little blue book like mine as the answer to their problems.  I wonder if it is.

We also crossed another important line today, one that does not require a passport.  I estimate that the Bed and Breakfast we are sleeping in tonight is about 10 kilometres south of the equator.  That is closer to that important line than I have ever been.  Perhaps I will now go fill the sink and watch which direction the water goes down the drain.

My travelling companions after lunch at the Bogota airport.  Ed Wiebe, Bonnie Klassen, Jennifer Chappell-Deckert and Orlando Vasques.

To be a pacifist in Colombia

This morning we spent three hours at the Canadian embassy with the visa officer who hears refugee claim cases.  Much of the conversation was rather technical and hard to explain in a short space.  In short, it was a good visit where we got a better understanding of how the visa officer views the situation in Colombia and I think she got a better sense of how MCC works with displaced Colombians.  I think we agreed that there are things that we can work together on.  However, we were all aware that the immigrations regulations are going to change shortly so that Colombians will not be able to claim “refugee” status while still in their country of citizenship.  Until now many of the Colombians that we have sponsored have come to Canada under that provision in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

One of the most difficult and yet inspiring times for us during the past few days has been hearing stories from displaced people that MCC and the Mennonite Church have been accompanying.  I do not think this is the right forum to go into the details of the stories; however, there are some important themes that we have heard from all the families we have talked to. 

One of the common themes that we have heard is that the conflict is still going on and these people are still being subjected to threats.  One person showed the bullet wounds and scars from his latest attack which almost killed him.  Another showed copied of the threatening letters they received only a few days ago.  They have been threatened; they have various levels of fear.  That is the reason that they need to find protection and hopefully get out of the country.   And yet, several of them at the end of our meeting with them said, “Colombia is a beautiful place.”  This reminds me of the meetings we had with groups on the Atlantic coastal area of Colombia three years ago.  People were not saying they wanted to get out; they were saying they wanted to go back to the homes they had fled.

Most of the people we talked to have sought protection from the Colombian government.  They have been in trouble because they have informed on one of the illegal armed groups or perhaps even someone connected to the government.  However, the common experience is that seeking protection from the government can be more trouble than help.  It was common for people to say that even though the government said they were at high risk because they testified in a high profile case, they were not offered any protection, and if they were, it gave them higher profile and made them more at risk.  Others said it made them realize that the different branches of government stick up for each other and their stories were often discounted.

One of the inspiring things though was the courage that these people have.  In spite of the threats these people report the persecution and will often follow them up.  In many ways, the easy thing would be to just let this go, but they really believe in the justice system and they really believe that they need to follow through on this to change things.  After one of the meetings we sat around and wondered if we would have the courage that these people show in the face of this.

When we ask them about this, the people we talk to say that their faith in God is what gives them the strength to carry on.  Connected to this is the importance of the church in their lives.  The church is the supportive community they have always looked for.  Some, if they can, will work with the church, helping out at the soup kitchen, or with maintenance.  In the church they have found the community that they are looking for.  It is the place where they feel like they can be who they really are and not worry and it is a place that has changed their lives and the lives of their families. 

Perhaps the most inspiring story we heard was from a woman whose husband was killed by someone in the paramilitary.  Her husband’s killer had been convicted of the murder, but they are pursuing this case to convict the person who ordered the killing.  This woman went to the trial, and was able to speak to the man who killed her husband.  She was able to confront him and in what must have been emotional meetings, he apologized and asked for forgiveness.  She said that she forgave him that day, because of what she has learned in the church.  She said that in the church they are learning the way of peace.

She is not the only one who has talked about being a pacifist here to.  That is a common theme among the people we talked to.  As I listened to that, I realize how easy it is for me to say I believe in peace where no one is threatening me.  But the way these people say this, I have no doubt it is a true conviction for them.

On Tuesday afternoon we head off to the airport to the Ecuador part of the trip.  If I have good internet access there, I hope that I can continue to share this experience with you.

World Communion Sunday at Teusaquillo Mennonite

The Teusaquillo Mennonite Church is not a remarkable looking building, certainly compared to the ornate, old cathedrals that one can find within a few kilometres of it around Bogota.  It is a three story brick building that could be mistaken for a small office block.  One flight up from the street level there is a room with a low ceiling with large pillars which obscure the vision of many.  It can hold perhaps 150 people sitting on plastic chairs that are set up for the service.  Despite its appearance, It is perhaps one of the most remarkable churches I have ever visited anywhere. 

Over the years I have talked to many displaced people in Colombia and Canada who speak fondly of this church.  They have given hope and faith to countless people over the years—probably more than any church I have ever come in contact.  It is also a place where many people face danger, so I do not often mention names of people there or take pictures.

Today when we walked into the church for their first service, I noticed the communion set on the table at the front, and I was reminded by the worship leader that this is World Communion Sunday (by the way, I am grateful that Stephen Abernathy, an MCC worker, for translating in the service and at other times in our visit). 

The sermon for the day was delivered by a laywoman of the church, who really helped put this day into context for me.  She reminded us that the last supper celebrated by Jesus was in fact a Passover feast, an event that commemorated the exodus experience of the people of Israel.  The Passover is a meal that is rich with symbolism.  What is significant about the Passover feast that Jesus celebrated with his disciples is that the elements of bread and wine were reinterpreted in the current context of Jesus’ passion.  Symbols, she said need to sometimes be reinterpreted for the time that they are used.

The question then came, “What do these symbols then mean in our current context?”  For me, that was a powerful question, to ask in Colombia in a room where people were suffering in ways I could not imagine. 

However, before moving to the present, the preacher spoke of the communion in the context of the early Anabaptists.  This group, whom she spoke of as their spiritual ancestors, held communion in high regard.  For them it was a reminder of the suffering of Jesus and in that way communion helped them understand their own suffering in a redemptive way.

What then does celebrating communion in this context for the Teusaquillo Mennonite Church?  In this context, she said communion on this day in this place is a symbol of love in the face of persecution.  It was a way to recognize of connections to each other. 

As someone from an eighth of the way around the world, I felt moved to be a part of communion in that context.  I felt it was important for us to be there.  Our presence on World Communion Sunday said that  Christians world were with them in their suffering.  In that rather plain room, we were saying no to the violence and yes to God’s love as we shared the ancient symbols that have meant liberation and community for so long.

Many Colombias

The street in front of the hotel where my morning run begins.

 Early Saturday morning I was reminded in two ways that I am in very different place from my home. When I unscrewed the lid on my water bottle this morning there was the sound of air rushing out of the space that had been last sealed in Winnipeg. Then, when I went outside to take a short run, I was surprised how difficult that was. Bogota is not only an eighth of the way around the world from Winnipeg; it is also several thousand feet higher.

From half way around the world, or even an eighth of the way around the world, a place can look simple, and uniform. As one moves closer subtle textures can begin to come into focus. Friday during one of our meetings someone said that there are many different Colombias. He was talking about the different regions of the country where the geography and access to the rest of the country can make them harder to connect to the rest of the country.

As I have been thinking about that today, I have noticed that there are a number of ways that Colombia’s diversity can be divided up. To begin with it is a very diverse country geographically. We saw this illustrated Saturday afternoon at the Bogota Botanic Garden. In the garden they have tried to show the different indigenous plants from the different regions of country from Amazonian Rainforest, costal tropics and Andean Mountains.

There is also a certain amount of ethnic diversity with Afro-Colombians, Indigenous peoples, Mestizo and European. Today we talked a bit about the economic stratification of society that seems to be clearly defined and codified. An MCC staff person here told us that there was a numbering system from one to six based on income that determined how much a person would pay for things like telephone and water. This stratification also pigeon-holds a person for their job and to an extent where they lived and what they had access to.

Related to this was the dividing line between the millions of people who are displaced in Colombia and those who are not. Displacement is not something that one shares with others, because there is a danger in this, but also because there is often a social stigma to being displaced. A displaced man talked about how his sons in their early 20s never socialize with their age peers because it is better not to have their situation of being displaced people known.

There is also a divide between rural and urban. This morning we met with two families who have been displaced from different parts of Colombia to Bogota. Both families have been classified as being at high risk of being victims for different reasons, and so they live a life in hiding. The two aspect of their stories common to both is that they reported the violence to the authorities, which put them at great risk, and second that they came from a rural area. One person said that here in Bogota, it looks like a safe place to live and work, but once one goes outside of the city, it is a different Colombia. It is a Colombia where various armed groups challenge the order and terrorize the people.

On this trip we will not see that diversity, but only hints of it in visits with families who come to see us, or in a beautiful botanical garden which tries to tell the story of a diverse place.

Wax Palm that grow in the high altitudes of the Bogota Botanical Garden

The rose garden at the Bogota Botanical Garden.

The Amazon room at the Bogota Botanical Garden