Colombia’s interior and justice minister has announced on Twitter that nearly 250,000 acres of land will be returned to Afro-Colombian communities who have been forcibly displaced.
German Vargas Lleras used the social networking site to say that the return of 63,000 acres to these communities has been finalized today, while also stating that eight rulings by INCORA (the Colombian Institute for Agricultural Reform) have been cancelled because the body had “fraudulently awarded” these lands to other individuals.
Vargas Lleras added that once a full census is completed, he expects more than 250,000 acres to have been restituted.
Colombia currently has the most internally displaced people in the world, numbering around 3.7 million, and the Colombian government is undertaking measures to ensure the restitution of land to as many of these people as possible.