Illegal mining, drug violence fuel Colombia displacement - U.N.

BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Illegal mining and drug-fuelled gang violence will still force thousands of Colombians from their homes each year, even if a peace deal emerges from current talks with Marxist rebels, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) predicted.

The number of freshly displaced Colombians fell by 40 percent last year from 2013, a drop attributed largely to a unilateral ceasefire by the rebels, whose talks in Cuba with government negotiators have lasted two years.