Displaced families in El Pozón, on the outskirts of Cartagena, crowd into single-room shacks haphazardly constructed from scraps of lumber, cardboard, plastic sheeting, and corrugated tin.

© 2004 Michael Bochenek/Human Rights Watch

Displaced persons who come to Bogotá typically end up in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, such as Ciudad Bolívar, pictured on the left.

© 2005 Michael Bochenek/Human Rights Watch

Crime is rampant and both guerrilla and paramilitary groups operate openly in the Altos de Cazucá, where many displaced families who come to the Bogotá metropolitan area find shelter.

© 2004 Michael Bochenek/Human Rights Watch

Displaced children eat at a community kitchen in a shantytown outside Bogotá.

© 2004 Michael Bochenek/Human Rights Watch