New funding from the US Department of State Bureau of 
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) will allow IOM to provide
shelter, medical assistance, food and non-food items and education
support for up to 2,000 Colombians who cross into Ecuador in search
of international protection.

Since October 2005, the IOM emergency assistance programme in
northern Ecuador has been addressing the needs of Colombians who
flee their country due to conflict, and the local population of the
impoverished border communities.  Since then, IOM has assisted
35,700 Colombians.

Ecuador's northern border is considered the most vulnerable
region in the country because of the number of Colombians seeking
refuge from armed conflict in their country.

According to the IOM Migration Profile for Ecuador, published in
June 2009, some 250,000 Colombians have crossed into Ecuador in the
past decade. 

Ecuador hosts the largest number of Colombian refugees;
Government figures indicate that some 50,000 Colombians have been
awarded refugee status in Ecuador. The UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are some 135,000 Colombians
in Ecuador in need of international protection.

IOM Ecuador has been carrying out projects in the northern
border region since 2001 with funding from the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) and in coordination with the
Government of Ecuador.  Some 460,000 persons have benefitted
from more than 270 infrastructure projects which are providing poor
communities with basic services, such as potable water, sanitation
systems, and infrastructure rehabilitation and development.

The IOM Migration Profile for Ecuador is available in Spanish at
the IOM Website: "http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/">http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/

For more information, please contact:

Ana Guzman

IOM-Ecuador

Tel: + 593-2 225-3948

E-mail: "mailto:agusman@iom.int">agusman@iom.int