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Colombia: agreement to protect the property rights of displaced

Briefing Notes, 8 April 2008

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 8 April 2008, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

A new agreement between UNHCR and the Colombian government to promote land protection and restitution of property rights marks a positive development for Colombia's displaced population.

The agreement is to be signed later today in the Colombian capital Bogota by the Agriculture Minister, Andres Felipe Arias and the UNHCR Representative Jean-Noël Wetterwald. It will provide a framework for coordination of various programmes already in place to legally protect abandoned lands and plans new initiatives to restore the property rights of people who have lost lands through forced displacement, providing them with a greater chance at socio-economic stability.

According to official figures from the state agency monitoring government compliance with national laws (Procuraduría General de la Nación), displaced people fleeing from armed conflict and violence have lost an estimated 6 million hectares of land. This represents around 6 percent of Colombia's total national territory. Until now, very few displaced people have received compensation for their loss.

Of the 2.4 million people on the national registry for displaced people, more than three-quarters (78 percent) come from rural areas and used to make a living from the land. As well as violating their rights to property, the loss of land has meant many no longer have a productive income. The majority have found refuge in urban areas, often in very deprived neighbourhoods, and experience great difficulties getting into the workforce.

This new agreement promotes an integral approach to land issues, starting from prevention with land registration in communities at risk of displacement – a crucial step since many Colombian farmers do not have legal titles to the lands they own, making it if far more difficult to claim them back after displacement. Other steps include the legal protection of abandoned lands so that they cannot be sold or otherwise disposed of, and sets up mechanisms to facilitate the distribution of lands to displaced people who have lost properties.

Welcome the commitment this new agreement demonstrates on the part of the Colombian authorities to address one of the most fundamental issues for internally displaced Colombians. It will fully cooperate with the government, civil society and the displaced population to identify the best possible ways to ensure restitution of lands and properties to the victims.

UNHCR has been working in Colombia for the past ten years to support the government's efforts on behalf of one of the largest internally displaced populations in the world. Among other initiatives, it supports the Tierras (Land) project, which in the past four years has already registered and legally protected more than 2 million hectares of land belonging to displaced people or communities at high risk of forced displacement.

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Colombia: Life in the Barrios

After more than forty years of internal armed conflict, Colombia has one of the largest populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world. Well over two million people have been forced to flee their homes; many of them have left remote rural areas to take refuge in the relative safety of the cities.

Displaced families often end up living in slum areas on the outskirts of the big cities, where they lack even the most basic services. Just outside Bogota, tens of thousands of displaced people live in the shantytowns of Altos de Cazuca and Altos de Florida, with little access to health, education or decent housing. Security is a problem too, with irregular armed groups and gangs controlling the shantytowns, often targeting young people.

UNHCR is working with the authorities in ten locations across Colombia to ensure that the rights of internally displaced people are fully respected – including the rights to basic services, health and education, as well as security.

Colombia: Life in the Barrios

Indigenous people in Colombia

There are about a million indigenous people in Colombia. They belong to 80 different groups and make up one of the world's most diverse indigenous heritages. But the internal armed conflict is taking its toll on them.

Like many Colombians, indigenous people often have no choice but to flee their lands to escape violence. Forced displacement is especially tragic for them because they have extremely strong links to their ancestral lands. Often their economic, social and cultural survival depends on keeping these links alive.

According to Colombia's national indigenous association ONIC, 18 of the smaller groups are at risk of disappearing. UNHCR is working with them to support their struggle to stay on their territories or to rebuild their lives when they are forced to flee.

UNHCR also assists indigenous refugees in neighbouring countries like Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil. UNHCR is developing a regional strategy to better address the specific needs of indigenous people during exile.

Indigenous people in Colombia

Panama's Hidden Refugees

Colombia's armed conflict has forced millions of people to flee their homes, including hundreds of thousands who have sought refuge in other countries in the region.

Along the border with Colombia, Panama's Darien region is a thick and inhospitable jungle accessible only by boat. Yet many Colombians have taken refuge here after fleeing the irregular armed groups who control large parts of jungle territory on the other side of the border.

Many of the families sheltering in the Darien are from Colombia's ethnic minorities – indigenous or Afro-Colombians – who have been particularly badly hit by the conflict and forcibly displaced in large numbers. In recent years, there has also been an increase in the numbers of Colombians arriving in the capital, Panama City.

There are an estimated 12,500 Colombians of concern to UNHCR in Panama, but many prefer not to make themselves known to authorities and remain in hiding. This "hidden population" is one of the biggest challenges facing UNHCR not only in Panama but also in Ecuador and Venezuela.

Panama's Hidden Refugees

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