Displacement in Catatumbo, Colombia
Catatumbo, Norte de Santander, Colombia. Reported onset 16 January 2025.
TL;DR
Fighting between armed groups in the Catatumbo region displaced households towards municipal centres and across the border area with Venezuela. Confinement, where communities cannot leave but are cut off from services, runs alongside displacement here.
What happened
- Clashes between armed groups escalated across municipalities of the Catatumbo region in Norte de Santander.
- Households moved towards municipal centres, and some crossed into the border area with Venezuela.
- Other communities were confined in place, unable to move safely to markets, schools or health services.
Why it matters for the data
- Colombia records both mass displacement events and confinement events, and a page that reports only displacement understates the impact.
- The country combines a large cumulative victim registry with current year event reporting, and the two figures answer different questions.
- Cross border movement links internal displacement to the wider Venezuela migration response.
What to watch next
- OCHA Colombia monthly monitoring of mass displacement and confinement events.
- Unidad para las Victimas registry updates for Norte de Santander.
- UNHCR and R4V reporting on cross border movement in the border area.
Where the figures come from
This page does not publish population figures for the event. Numbers for an active event change faster than any single page can responsibly restate them, and access restrictions mean estimates carry wide uncertainty. The organisations below publish the current figures and the methodology behind them.
Country context
For the wider picture, see the Colombia displacement dashboard, which tracks conflict events, population movement and humanitarian needs on a rolling basis.