The Colombian government and the U.N. agree on measures to protect displaced people and ensure that armed groups do not interfere with the process of land restitution, El Espectador reported Friday.
Colombian Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera and UNHCR representative Christian Salazar agreed on measures to protect the displaced.
Salazar stressed the importance of the Prosecutor General’s Office designing a system for rapid intervention and prosecution of the illegally-armed persons who have already been identified.
“The government should consider a small aid fund for the organizations that help the victims of this country, which work with practically nothing and do a lot for the victims of the conflict,” Salazar said to El Espectador.
The U.N. representative said that the security model should be applied with most emphasis in Uraba, southern Bolivar, Montes de Maria and Sucre, where threats and murders have increased.
Salazar asked the Colombian government to protect families who are reclaiming land that were occupied by paramilitaries.
Measures will be taken to inform the local media about land restitution so that the general public are aware and can take advantage of their benefits, according to the officials.
“This restitution policy will benefit the victims of the conflict, but social organizations have a responsibility to them, it is they who are dying, it is they who are threatened, it is they who know problems and the state should have a way to help them and to send a sign that these organizations are legitimate and work on behalf of the most vulnerable communities,” the U.N. representative told the newspaper.
With 3.7 million internally displaced people, Colombia has more individuals displaced by violence than any other country in the world.
