Los determinantes de la integración local del colectivo refugiado de nacionalidad colombiana en la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

In the city of Cuenca, until 2013, 2.146 refugees from Colombia were officially and legally registered, with an increase of arrivals in the city. Based on their testimonies, these persons arrived, among others, fleeing from war, violence, expropriations. Their current social, economic, social and cultural situation merits an analysis with a human right perspective, focusing on integration. The latest is indeed the objective of this research. The analysis allowed determining the elements that influence the legal, economic, social and cultural integration of the Colombian refugees living in Cuenca – Azuay Province, Ecuador – taking into account the framework provided by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and by international refugee law. Another legal framework analysed is the constitutional and national Ecuadorian law. The Republic of Ecuador has signed and ratified several international treaties in behalf of refugees’ protection, committing the country to warrant refugee right’s accomplishment, as labour rights, education, health and housing. These are fundamental rights that aim at guaranteeing the local integration of the people in need of international protection. Nevertheless the access to these rights has been restricted, setting aside this social vulnerable group. This research is based on the 2014 UNHCR Baseline in Ecuador, interviews to UNHCR’s NGOs partners as COMAM (Corporation woman to woman) and HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), and to public institutions like the Refugees Directorate of the Ministry of External Relations and Human Mobility. All these institutions work daily with refugee population in Cuenca.