Land restitution as a key element in preventing forced displacement in Colombia

The armed conflict in Colombia, which has generated over three million internally displaced persons, has dramatic humanitarian consequences and raises serious issues regarding the protection of the displaced persons’ rights. This paper claims that although legal provisions have established the victims’ right to the restitution of their homes, policies dealing with displacement fail to take this sufficiently into account.

The author concludes with the following recommendations:

• international cooperation policies for Colombia should be more aware of the complex dynamics associated with the internal armed conflict and the many actors involved
• cooperation on displacement must take into account both the causes and the consequences of displacement, requiring the Colombian government to address both
• Colombia does not lack the capacity to cope with humanitarian emergencies related to displacement, and the government must be required to comply with its domestic and international obligations
• dialogue is needed with the different international cooperation actors in Colombia, starting with the active network of grassroots associations inside the country
• a clear-cut distinction must be drawn between emergency aid to displaced persons and an integral, differentiated policy of assistance to the displaced population
• any policy to assist the displaced population must take the victims’ right to reparation into account, including the preferential right to restitution of the lands and goods that have been plundered.
  

In addition, the document emphasises that the proposal to create an institution specifically to extract the truth about the plundering and restitution have to be seriously considered.