Psychologist Threatened By Guerrilla Group In Colombia Granted Refugee Status

Sunday, 27 April 2025, 9:24 pm
Article: RNZ

Gill Bonnett, Immigration Reporter

Warning: This story discusses sexual violence.

A psychologist helping traumatised victims of armed conflicts and drug gangs in Colombia has been granted refugee status in New Zealand after she was threatened by a guerrilla group.

Her husband was asked whether he wanted her body returned to him in a bag, by armed men who turned up at his workplace and outside the complex where they lived, the Immigration and Protection Tribunal heard.

The couple had guns pointed at them as they were flanked by motorbikes at traffic lights and their car was driven into. They managed to get a visa for New Zealand in 2023.

Armed conflict in Colombia between the government, paramilitary groups, guerrilla groups and drug traffickers has continued since the 1960s, despite a peace process.

The groups are concerned that their activities could be revealed by people working with victims, the tribunal heard.

The 31-year-old woman worked in an area surrounded by jungle where armed groups were active, paying home visits to registered victims of the conflict, some of whom had fled from armed groups in other parts of Colombia.

She also volunteered through a human rights organisation, but the work was dangerous and victims she treated were scared or in hiding themselves.

"[She] was approached by two unknown men and questioned about who she was and what she was doing there," the tribunal noted in a recent decision.

"She was threatened by one of the men asking whether she wanted 'something bad to happen'.

"A second approach by the same men, again uttering threats and asking questions, occurred a while later.

"On a third occasion, different men stopped her and stood in her way. They told her to leave the town."

She stopped walking to appointments, cut her hours back and her husband would transport her when he could, but she continued to be threatened where she worked and in her hometown.

"She was approached by two men who questioned what she was doing there if she wanted to stay alive for Christmas.

"They reminded her of their previous warnings, with one showing a weapon tucked into his trousers. She froze. A passing older woman came... and moved her away, telling her to flee.

"As she moved, she saw that she was surrounded by a group of men now. She returned to her car and drove home very upset and scared."

A community leader who had acted as an intermediary with registered victims had been kidnapped more than once by an armed group, raped and had her teeth extracted.

In another incident, the woman and her husband were on their way to see relatives when their car was by two men on motorbikes.

"The man on her side banged on her window. He asked why she had not stopped her work, they had told her not to bother them and she knew who they were and what they would do.

"They said either [they] would both die, or her mother would die. The man on the other side had a gun pointed at them."

As the men left one rode into the car.

"The wife fears that she and her husband will be killed or seriously harmed if they return to Colombia.

"They have both been identified by an irregular armed guerrilla group because of her work with victims of the armed conflict.

"The wife would love to work again with victims of the armed conflict in Colombia, but it is too dangerous to do so."

© Scoop Media

RNZ

New Zealand's public broadcaster, providing comprehensive NZ news and current affairs, specialist audio features and documentaries.

Radio New Zealand is a Crown entity established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. Radio New Zealand News are vital elements in our programming, providing impartial news and information to New Zealanders every day. Radio New Zealand (RNZ) provides listeners with exciting and independent radio programmes in accordance with the Radio New Zealand Charter.

Contact RNZ

• Website - www.radionz.co.nz
• Twitter - @rnz_news
• Facebook
• Link - Contact RNZ