Colombian Refugees in Ecuador feel discrimination and still fearful

catholicregister.org reported Carlos Leon and Carmen Barrera thought the worst was over when they escaped the death threats in Colombia. Caught between a gang of extortionists and the owner of the property where he was working as a construction foreman, they left on a plane with their twin daughters, each carrying little more than a change of clothes. The couple’s three older children, all in their 20s, would follow.

Then came the phone call.The older children were being held hostage in their home by the landlady, a police officer and several other people who were demanding hundreds of dollars to allow them to leave, even though the rent was paid. Frantic phone calls brought help, and the family was reunited in Quito, said Leon, tears welling up in his eyes as he recalled his children’s terror. But even here, in Ecuador’s apparently peaceful capital city, they do not feel safe. Read Article