Violence and displacement are once again tearing through rural Antioquia, northern Colombia, where clashes between armed groups have forced more than 2,000 families to abandon their homes so far this year. These families displaced in Antioquia by armed groups face a challenging future.
Many others remain trapped, confined by threats and roadblocks set up by criminal organizations. The humanitarian crisis in this region of northwestern Colombia highlights the fragility of state presence and the persistent scars left by decades of armed conflict. Amidst this turmoil, families displaced in Antioquia struggle to find safety and stability.
Local authorities warn that displacement is only part of the story. The region is also experiencing a rise in killings, forced disappearances, kidnappings, and accidents with landmines. “These communities continue to be victims of the armed conflict, not only through displacement but also through the persistence of violence in its most brutal forms,” said Maribel Lopez, director of the Victims Unit in Antioquia, during a recent briefing. Such has been the fate of thousands of families displaced due to the Antioquia armed groups’ actions.
Rural communities in Colombia’s Antioquia under siege as violence spreads
Some of the most affected municipalities include El Bagre, in Bajo Cauca, and Valdivia, in northern Antioquia. In both places, entire villages have been confined by threats from armed groups that restrict mobility, transportation, and commerce. Residents say they cannot safely leave to tend their crops, go to school, or access medical services. The narrative across these communities continues to revolve around families displaced by Antioquia armed groups.
To respond to these emergencies, the national Victims Unit recently delivered humanitarian aid to 914 families — roughly 2,400 people — who were trapped in these areas. The assistance included 41 tons of food supplies and hygiene products, distributed across 12 rural settlements in Puerto Lopez, El Bagre, as well as in La Llana and Raudal Viejo, in Valdivia. “This population has endured months of confinement due to escalating violence in the subregions of Nordeste and Bajo Cauca,” Lopez explained, adding that many residents remain cut off from essential goods and services.
These humanitarian missions, however, are temporary relief for a much larger crisis. The United Nations has long warned that Antioquia, alongside neighboring departments like Choco and Cauca, is among the hardest-hit areas by forced displacement in Colombia. The dynamics of violence vary by municipality, but generally involve disputes between the Gulf Clan, FARC dissident factions, and local criminal networks seeking control over cocaine production corridors, extortion rackets, and illegal gold mining.
For families, this translates into recurring waves of exodus. Some leave behind plots of land that sustain their livelihoods, while others crowd into shelters or the homes of relatives in larger towns. Those unable to escape live under near-siege conditions, navigating armed checkpoints and curfews imposed by illegal players.
Reparations and aid struggle to keep pace with rising needs
Alongside emergency food deliveries, the Colombian government is also advancing longer-term reparation measures for victims of the armed conflict. Antioquia, as the department with the highest number of registered victims nationwide, receives the largest share of these efforts. According to official figures from the national Victims Unit, more than 25,000 people in Antioquia have been compensated so far in 2025 through financial indemnities for crimes ranging from forced displacement and land dispossession to torture, sexual violence, kidnappings, and killings perpetrated by guerrilla, paramilitary, and criminal groups.
In September alone, about 5,000 victims in Antioquia will access individual reparation payments. The largest event this month took place in Medellin, where 1,000 people received notification of payments during a public ceremony. The government reports that this year’s indemnity payouts in the department already total about 250 billion pesos (approximately US$61 million). Since 2012, the Victims Unit has invested roughly 4.6 trillion pesos (around US$1.12 billion) in programs of assistance and reparation across Antioquia.
Officials stress that reparations are not just about financial transfers. Recipients also receive guidance on how to use the money productively. The Medellin mayor’s office, vocational training programs such as SENA, pension administrators, and educational institutions all participate in these sessions, helping families channel funds into housing, education, entrepreneurship, agricultural projects, or retirement savings. The goal is to strengthen long-term resilience in communities that remain extremely vulnerable.
Cycle of victimization
Still, humanitarian organizations caution that these efforts cannot keep pace with the rising number of new victims created by ongoing violence. As armed groups continue to recruit children, extort local businesses, and plant landmines along rural paths, the cycle of victimization intensifies.
“The humanitarian response is stretched thin, and without stronger security guarantees, communities risk being displaced again and again,” said a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
The Petro administration has pledged to combine peace negotiations with armed factions and an expansion of state presence in neglected rural zones. Yet progress is slow, and critics argue that policies remain too fragmented to bring immediate relief to Antioquia’s most embattled towns.
For the thousands of families displaced or confined in 2025, the reality is stark. Their future depends not only on humanitarian aid or indemnities, but on whether Colombia can finally dismantle the cycles of violence that keep returning to Antioquia’s hills and valleys. Until then, many will remain in limbo — caught between the memory of past atrocities and the uncertainty of whether peace will ever reach their doorstep. Families displaced in Antioquia due to armed groups have a challenging path ahead.