The Unseen Refugees: Colombians Seeking Refuge in Ecuador

February 11, 2009

Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
and
The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

are pleased to invite you to a discussion on  

The Unseen Refugees:
Colombians Seeking Refuge in Ecuador

with

Sister Janete Ferreira
Director for the Migration and Refugee Pastoral of Ecuadorian Bishops Conference & Caritas Latin America and Caribbean Coordinator Trafficking-Migration

Friday, February 20, 2009
3:30-4:30 pm  

WOLA Conference Room
1666 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC

Ecuador receives the most persons fleeing violence and seeking protection from the internal armed conflict in Colombia and its northern border area is believed to house an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 mostly undocumented refugees. Colombians in Ecuador face many protection and assistance challenges including harassment, victimization by illegal groups and vulnerability to sexual exploitation. The lack of legal recognition of the majority of these refugees and the under-funded UNHCR global appeal to support their efforts to assist these Colombians places this population in a very precarious situation. Sr. Janete Ferreira will present on this situation and offer recommendations for how the international community can manage and assist this unheralded refugee population.

Sr. Janete Ferreira is a Scalabrini Missionary sister with a Masters in Sociology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sr. Janete Ferreira has 15 years of national and regional experience in Honduras, Colombia and Ecuador working on migration, refugee and trafficking issues, with the national and regional offices of Bishops Conferences and CELAM. She is currently the Director of the Migration Pastoral for the Bishop's Conference of Ecuador, which currently is responsible for the Catholic Church's national response to Colombian refugees, migration and trafficking in persons. Sr. Janete is also the regional coordinator on migration and trafficking for SELACC (Caritas Latin America & Caribbean).

Please RSVP to Rachel Robb at rrobb@wola.org no later than 12 noon, Thursday, February 19, 2009.