From ENS-
After an eight-month separation from them, Antonio boarded a plane with his wife and their three children in Cali, Colombia, last winter and flew to Quito, Ecuador, where they petitioned the Ecuadorian government for asylum.
It was the ultimate act in a 10-year-saga that included an attempt on Antonio's life, four internal displacements within Colombia's border and the loss of everything material and familiar. The family landed in metro-Quito in a "safe house" belonging to the Diocese of Central Ecuador.
Colombia's half-century-long armed conflict -- characterized by displacement, violence and human and drug trafficking -- has forced more than 116,000 refugees across the border into Ecuador. They are among the more than 15 million refugees worldwide whose plight is spotlighted each June 20 on World Refugee Day, commemorated annually since 2001.
In May, ENS visited Ecuador and heard the stories of Colombian refugees living there. Their tales reflect the violence and lost homes, livelihoods, families and lives that have characterized the South American country's prolonged war. To protect the refugees from further harm and persecution, their names have been changed.
More here-
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_128774_ENG_HTM.htm
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