Geneva, May 13 (EFE).– The UN Refugee Agency, or ACNUR, reported Friday that more than 6,000 people have fled their homes and another 7,000 are trapped by armed clashes in the Colombian region of Choco, one of the most violent in the country.

The battles, according to UNHCR, are between illegal armed groups seeking control of this territory on the Panamanian border, and are being fought around the Baudo, Atrato and San Juan Rivers.

Choco, one of the poorest, most abandoned regions of Colombia, is mostly inhabited by Afro-Colombians and a large indigenous population, and in recent decades has been dominated by guerrillas and paramilitaries since it is a prized drug-trafficking route and has valuable natural resources.

For Choco’s inhabitants, “access to livelihoods, including fishing, hunting and agriculture, has been completely cut off and their children are no longer able to go to school,” UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told a press conference in Geneva.

Though Spindler said the hostilities are between armed groups, he did not name those organizations nor said whether the Colombian army was involved, on grounds that providing such identification would undermine the neutrality of his organization.

The spokesman said the agency has asked combatants to guarantee the safety of civilians in a situation that “has overwhelmed the local authorities’ ability to respond to basic needs, including food, healthcare, shelter and psychological support.”

More than half a century of civil war in Colombia has left over 7 million displaced persons around the country and another 350,000 Colombians living as refugees in other countries, UNHCR said on Friday. EFE