Colombia experienced one of its worst humanitarian crises in a decade during 2025, with over 137,000 people trapped in their communities by armed group threats and child recruitment surging 81%, according to Human Rights Watch's latest World Report.
The numbers paint a stark picture of deteriorating security nearly nine years after the country's historic 2016 peace agreement with FARC guerrillas. Between January and August 2025, UN humanitarian officials documented more than 137,000 people unable to leave their communities due to violence and armed group threats—a phenomenon known as "confinement" that effectively traps civilians in conflict zones.
The Catatumbo region, a coca-growing area along the Venezuelan border, witnessed some of the most dramatic violence. Over 64,000 people fled their homes following an ELN campaign to regain territorial control, marking one of the largest mass displacements Colombia has seen in decades.
"2025 estuvo marcado por una de las peores situaciones humanitarias de la última década," Human Rights Watch concluded in its annual assessment of Colombia.
Perhaps most alarming: the recruitment of children into armed groups jumped dramatically. The Ombudsman's office documented 625 cases of child recruitment in 2024—an 81% increase from 342 cases the previous year. UN data indicate this upward trend continued throughout 2025, with armed groups increasingly targeting minors as combatants.
The violence comes from multiple sources. The ELN, FARC dissident factions including the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) and the Bloque Comandante Eduardo Franco (EMBF), and criminal organizations like the Clan del Golfo all compete for territorial control in coca-growing regions and drug trafficking corridors.
Civilians caught in the middle face increasingly sophisticated threats. Between January and August 2025, 544 civilians were wounded or killed by explosive devices—a 145% increase compared to 2024. Drone attacks with explosives surged 138% in the first half of the year, representing a troubling evolution in armed group tactics.
The crisis raises fundamental questions about Colombia's peace process, long held up as a model for post-conflict transitions worldwide. The 2016 agreement between the government and FARC promised rural development, crop substitution for coca farmers, and security in formerly conflict-affected regions.
Nearly a decade later, implementation remains limited. Colombia's Constitutional Court ordered an evaluation of the government's peace implementation unit in September, citing documented deficiencies in delivering on the agreement's promises.
The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), a transitional justice court created by the peace accord, did issue its first convictions in 2025. Seven former FARC leaders and twelve former soldiers received sentences of eight years of restricted liberty for war crimes—a significant milestone for accountability, even as violence continued.
But for communities in Catatumbo and other conflict zones, the peace agreement's benefits remain distant. Without roads to market legal crops, security forces to protect civilians, or economic opportunities to replace coca cultivation, armed groups continue to fill the vacuum left by FARC's demobilization.
President Gustavo Petro has pursued "Total Peace" negotiations with remaining armed groups, including the ELN. Those talks have produced ceasefires but not lasting peace, with violence surging when agreements break down.
The humanitarian crisis extends beyond displacement. Armed groups impose restrictions on movement, threaten civic leaders, forcibly recruit youth, and punish communities suspected of cooperating with rivals or the government. For tens of thousands of Colombians, daily life remains shaped by armed actors rather than state institutions.
In Colombia, as across post-conflict societies, peace is not an event but a process—requiring patience, investment, and political will. The 2016 agreement ended five decades of FARC guerrilla conflict, but implementation—building roads, providing security, offering economic opportunities in former conflict zones—proves more difficult than signing treaties.
The international community, which celebrated Colombia's peace accord as a breakthrough, now faces questions about supporting implementation. The UN, European Union, and United States all pledged assistance for rural development and security in conflict-affected regions. Whether those commitments translate into protection for communities like those in Catatumbo will determine if Colombia's peace process represents a model or a cautionary tale.
For now, the statistics tell a sobering story: more displacement, more child soldiers, more civilians killed or wounded by explosive devices. The peace agreement's promise—that conflict-affected Colombians would finally live in security—remains unfulfilled for hundreds of thousands still trapped in zones where armed groups, not the government, control daily life.
