20 June is World Refugee Day; an occasion to draw attention to the fate of those who have been driven from their homes.

Last year in Latin-America, hundreds of thousands of people were displaced in their own countries, This is a particularly serious occurrence in Colombia : according to the High Commissioner for Refugees, nearly 3 million Colombians have had to escape the internal fighting, between rebel and government forces. They escape frequently from rural areas into the cities.

Adapting to their new circumstances is far from easy, explains Philippe Gross, Professor of the Institute of Latin-American Higher Studies, Paris and expert on Colombia.

Listen to the Professor Gros interview (in french)

People in Bogota’s deprived areas disgusted by release of rebels.

According to figures from NGO’s ,Colombia has about 4 million displaced persons from the rural areas and these continue to leave the countryside for the towns.

In the poor areas of Bogota where a good number of people have found a precarious refuge after fleeing Farc reprisals, the release of rebels has provoked feelings of bewilderment and disgust.

“These criminals killed my husband and my two brothers. And now the government is going to let them out of prison. It would be better for the government to look after the victims of the guerrilla. I have lost everything”, exclaimed Ana Tavera, a 26 year old mother.

After the murder of her family members, the young woman left with her two children, her village of Vista Hermosa , in the rural district of Meta(central Colombia), to settle two years ago in Ciudad Bolivar, a huge slum overlooking the Colombian capital.

The process of freeing the rebels, instigated by President Alvaro Uribe to encourage Farc to release their hostages, provokes a sad smile.

“The rebels are going to re-arm and steal. That’s all they know how to do”, she says bitterly, saying she does not believe that the Marxist rebel group(the largest in the country with 17,000 men) will release their hostages.

Inside her house, a temporary brick house, Bety Rozo, a 55 year-old grandmother, who single-handedly takes care of her three grandchildren, has been taking refuge since 1998 in Ciudad Bolivar.

“The whole business of freed rebel frightens me” she murmurs ,before saying “I would like this violence to stop, so we wont have to hide in order to survive”.

Sitting with his back to a broken wall, Alvaro Valderama, a former 69 year old stone mason, does not hide his anger. “Farc think they are untouchable, they will think they can do whatever they want”, he exclaims.

In this district where paramilitary groups terrorise at night, people had already protested when authorities had passed legislation to introduce amnesties for very violent members of an extreme right wing paramilitary group.

Last year, to achieve national reconciliation, the Colombian government introduced the “Justice and Peace” law allowing paramilitaries suspended sentences in exchange for testimonies, even in cases where civilians were massacred.

“What do you think they’ll do after they leave prison? Well, they’ll start to kill again, of course “, states Alvaro Valderama, who begs President Uribe to provide work for him so he will no longer live off his two sons.

Owner of a small grocery, David Penera, a slightly built 40 year old man, refers also to the failure of social politics, and thinks that the freeing of rebels “will not change anything, as far as the poor are concerned”.

“We don’t know what will happen. In fact things could be worse than before. Peace will only return to Colombia when the government does something about the deprivation destroying this country”, he suggests.