June 7, 2007

Call your representative today! Urge them to support H. RES. 426, which recognizes 2007 as the Year of Internally Displaced Persons in Colombia and recommends an increase in U.S. humanitarian assistance to IDPs in Colombia. To read the resolution, click here.

In Colombia, violence forces an alarming 200,000 people to flee their communities each year, resulting in a displaced population of some 3.8 million over the last two decades, the 2nd largest in the world only after Sudan. Recently, humanitarian and faith-based organizations in Colombia have initiated a campaign to raise awareness of the extreme hardship and discrimination that displaced people face in their country, naming 2007 the year of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Colombia.

The resolution, introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern, helps to call attention to this until now invisible problem. It also recommends that the Colombian and U.S. governments increase humanitarian assistance to Colombia for IDPs. Long term and emergency aid are both essential to providing displaced persons the chance to rebuild their lives in an appropriate and dignified manner.

With Colombian government officials actively pressuring members of Congress for additional funding for war, we must keep our momentum going. Call your representative today and urge them to support this resolution!

Also, Jesuit Refugee Service has recently launched The Refugee Voice, a project that features testimonies from refugees and analysis of the underlying causes of displacement. The stories of twelve displaced families from Colombia are featured this month. You can read their testimonies here.

Co-Sponsors as of June 20, 2007 (34)

Rep. McGovern (D-MA)
Rep. Pitts (R-PA)
Rep. Engel (D-NY)
Rep. Smith (D-NJ)
Rep. Payne (D-NJ)
Rep. Lantos (D-CA)
Rep. McCollum (D-MN)
Rep. Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Lynch (D-MA)
Rep. Baldwin (D-WI)
Rep. Wexler (D-FL)
Rep. Sutton (D-OH)
Rep. Farr (D-CA)
Rep. Fattah (D-PA)
Rep. DeLauro (D-CT)
Rep. Schakowsky (D-IL)
Rep. Watson (D-CA)
Rep. Jackson-Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Gutierrez (D-IL)
Rep. Woolsey (D-CA)
Rep. Hinchey (D-NY)
Rep. Lee (D-CA)
Rep. McDermott (D-WA)
Rep. Moore (D-WI)
Rep. Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. Wolf (R-VA)
Rep. Clay (D-MO)
Rep. Davis, Jo Ann (R-VA)
Rep. Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Higgins (D-NY)
Rep. Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Price (D-NC)
Rep. Renzi (R-AZ)
Rep. Stark (D-CA)