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STORY: ECUADOR / COLOMBIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 02:04
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13-15 APRIL 2016, SUCUMBÍOS, ECUADOR
1. Close up, Jose riding in a car
2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“I was forced to flee because the rebels wanted to recruit my brother and I.”
3. Various shots, Jose walking through the jungle with his daughter
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“One night they attacked us with a grenade. Their goal was to kill my family and I. That’s when we decided to abandon Colombia.”
5. Wide shot, trees
6. Various shots, Jose and his family eating in their home
7. Various shots, details of their home
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose’s Wife, Colombian Refugee:
“It breaks your heart. We left our family, all of our possessions. And to come to a new place where you don’t know anybody is very difficult.”
9. Med shot, Jose’s wife, doing dishes
10. Wide shot, their house
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“We’ve faced discrimination. When they find out we’re Colombian they don’t trust us.”
12. Various shots, the amazon forest
13. Med shot, transitional home for refugees
14. Various shots, Jose, his wife and their kids
15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“Honestly, I don’t want to go back to Colombia. My wife’s father was killed, they killed my older brother. It still hurts so much.”
16. Med shot, Jose’s son
17. Various shots, Jose and his family walking through jungle, doing some work on their crops
18. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“I want them to live a life that’s free of the suffering and violence my wife and I experienced.”
19. Med shot, family at riverbank,
20. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“Tranquility is something you can’t put a price on.”
21. Various shots, kids swimming
While the Colombian government is nearing historic peace agreements with the nation’s two main rebel groups, more than 500 Colombians still flee over the border to Ecuador every month. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its team in Lago Agrio are working with Colombian refugees to help them integrate and begin their new lives.
Jose has been on the run since he was 17-years-old.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“I was forced to flee because the rebels wanted to recruit my brother and I.”
For years he kept moving, hoping they wouldn’t catch up with him. But he says everything changed the night they attacked his family.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“One night they attacked us with a grenade. Their goal was to kill my family and I. That’s when we decided to abandon Colombia.”
His brother was killed in a separate attack, but Jose, his wife and their five children managed to escape. Jose’s wife says the hardest part was leaving their extended family behind.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose’s Wife, Colombian Refugee:
“It breaks your heart. We left our family, all of our possessions. And to come to a new place where you don’t know anybody is very difficult.”
They arrived in Ecuador a few months ago and are now living here on the edge of the Amazon.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“We’ve faced discrimination. When they find out we’re Colombian they don’t trust us.”
While it’s unclear how Colombia will change after the peace agreement, Jose and his family want to stay in Ecuador no matter what.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“Honestly, I don’t want to go back to Colombia. My wife’s father was killed, they killed my older brother. It still hurts so much.”
Jose and his family borrowed some land and started selling cacao in the nearby city of Lago Agrio.
It’s a humble new beginning, but Jose is hopeful for his children’s future.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“I want them to live a life that’s free of the suffering and violence my wife and I experienced.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Jose, Colombian Refugee:
“Tranquility is something you can’t put a price on.”
