The humanitarian consequences of the armed conflict in Colombia reached in 2025 “the most serious level of the last decade,” according to the report on that year by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which adds two additional findings: the increase in clashes in populated areas and the development of new technologies, such as drones.
“The impact of armed conflicts has become part of the daily lives of communities,” said Olivier Dubois, head of the ICRC Delegation in Bogota, in several videos released to the press, and he warned that what happened last year in Colombia is the result of a “progressive deterioration” that began in 2018. That is, it is not an isolated event.
Effects of conflicts on civilian population deepened
“During these years, armed conflicts persisted and became more complex. Their effects on the civilian population deepened,” Dubois warned. “2025 is the most serious point of that trend.” For the ICRC, there are eight conflicts in Colombia.
When comparing 2025 with 2024, the intensity of the confrontation becomes evident. Individual displacement increased by 100%, reaching 235,000 affected people; mass displacement increased by 111%, with 87,000 victims; and confinements increased by 99%, with 117,000 recorded cases.
The explanation the ICRC uses to approach this reality is that the deterioration is due to the fact that clashes are increasingly taking place in populated areas. “Many families remained for hours and even days inside their homes to take shelter,” the report says.
“There were injured and deceased civilians, and entire communities were confined or forced to move,” the document adds. “Access to water, food, health, education, and other essential services for daily life was limited or interrupted.” On the other hand, 226 civilians were victims of disappearances, a crime to which the report gives special relevance.
For this reason, Dubois issued a warning about these violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL): “The parties to the conflict must avoid fighting taking place in populated areas and take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population,” he said.
The ICRC report also draws attention to the use of explosive drones by armed groups. “It has generated fear, uncertainty, and serious harm among affected communities,” it says, and provides an illustrative figure: at least 965 people have been injured or killed by explosive devices. Of these, 622 were civilians.
Respect for IHL “is not optional”
Although the humanitarian crisis affects the entire country, it has been concentrated in certain regions, such as Norte de Santander and Cauca, today the main reference points of the armed conflict in the country. In the department bordering Venezuela, and on the border itself, the ICRC records 67% of the population affected by mass displacement and 42% of those who were victims of individual displacement, following the offensive launched by the ELN in the Catatumbo region in January last year.
Cauca, in southwestern Colombia, accounted for 46% of people injured or killed by explosive devices, used especially by FARC dissident groups led by alias “Ivan Mordisco.” Choco, on the Pacific coast, where illegal groups have imposed several armed strikes, had 29% of the country’s confined population.
The ICRC emphasizes that respect for IHL “is not optional.” “The parties to the conflict must avoid, as far as possible, fighting in populated areas, adopt all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population, and refrain from using means and methods of warfare with indiscriminate effects or that cause excessive damage or unnecessary suffering,” it states.
“The humanitarian consequences of conflicts are not inevitable,” Dubois concludes. “They depend on concrete decisions by the parties to the conflict, not only during the conduct of hostilities. Respect for IHL obligations is fundamental to preserving humanity in the midst of war. IHL is not an abstract entity that can be reduced to empty speeches, but a framework that should guide the daily operations of all parties to the conflict, state and non-state alike, and must be applied by each of their members regardless of rank.”