524 indigenous people displaced by Colombia’s ongoing armed conflict will leave Bogota to return to their homes in the western departments of Choco and Risaralda after having reached an agreement with the federal and municipal governments, various media reported Friday.
The secretary of Bogota’s mayoral office, Jorge Rojas, said that “10 years after the forced displacement of around 60 to 70 families from [the cities of] Chami and Katio who arrived in [Bogota] displaced by the war and the internal armed conflict, there is an agreement to return and a vindication of their rights.”
Rojas said the time had come to “guarantee the conditions of security, dignity and sustainability for this process of return.”
Bogota promised to supply food and employment to the displaced group, stating they will give special priority to helping the children.
A census will be administered in Bogota to determine the total amount of displaced indigenous people currently living in the nation’s capital, according to the mayor’s office.
Colombia currently has an estimated 3.8 million internally displaced people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
