A/HRC/16/45/Add.1 36. The phenomenon of “confinement” of communities (through violence, threats and economic blockade) is a cause for concern. Those in areas occupied by illegal armed groups that wish to exert control over territories and movement within them are sometimes confined to localities through force. Curfews are enforced and normal access to rivers, agricultural fields, bordering territories or markets is denied. Affected Afro-Colombian communities may consequently have little access to basic necessities and limited opportunities to continue their farming and economic activities. 37. Afro-Colombian territories are strategically important for illegal armed groups involved in narcotics production and trafficking. While violence and threats remain the initial forces propelling displacements, the motivations have changed over recent years. New macro-economic development plans have targeted these regions for one-crop agribusiness investments including palm oil and banana cultivation; and for mining concessions, ranching and logging operations. Aerial fumigation by the Government to control illicit crops has also reportedly caused massive displacement and health problems due to the poisoning of lands otherwise used for legitimate food crops. The Government does not recognize fumigations as a cause of displacement; therefore these IDPs are not eligible for registration as displaced and are unable to access certain assistance programmes. 38. The experiences of communities inhabiting the river basins of Curvaradó and Jiguamiandó were described during the independent expert’s visit to Curvaradó. Community sources estimate that 3,000 Afro-Colombians were forcibly displaced from their collective territory, where they conducted small-scale sustainable agriculture. The region is strategically important to different armed groups and was the scene of military operations during the 1990s, causing initial displacements. This rich, bio-diverse region was subsequently sought after by agro-business “megaprojects”, including large-scale palm oil cultivation. Consequently, populations were displaced by paramilitaries, narcotraffickers, and those seeking to acquire lands illegally for plantations and cattle ranching. One community member recalled being warned “if you don’t leave, we’ll negotiate with your widow”. 39. In 2007, the NGOs the National Association of Displaced Afro-Colombians (AFRODES) and Global Rights reported that a total of 252,541 people had been displaced from collective Afro-Colombian territories located in 50 municipalities. That represented 79 per cent of the population registered as eligible for the right to collective land title. As of the end of 2009, NGOs estimated that Afro-descendants represented almost a third of Colombia’s displaced population22, and that over 12 per cent of all Afro-Colombians are living in a situation of forced displacement23. These estimates are considerably higher than the numbers officially registered24. 40. In 2009 and 2010, mass displacements of Afro-Colombians continued. On 17 August, 2009, 117 community members were displaced due to confrontations between illegal armed groups for control of the Bajo Baudó River area. Intensive aerial fumigation of crops in collective territories in Guapí, Cauca, reportedly caused the internal 22 23 24 10 Estimated by the Government to be around 3.2 million people and by NGOs to be some 4.9 million at the end of 2009. According to a survey by the Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) in 2008. Other estimates put the figure at over one third. CODHES estimates that 286,389 persons were displaced during 2009, compared to official registration of 111,414 new displacements (17,844 of whom identified as Afro-Colombian). CODHES notes that 83 per cent of mass displacements (i.e. concerning over 50 people) involved Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities.