Colombia’s Constitutional Court has asked the mayors of the country’s three biggest cities, Bogota, Medellin and Cali, to testify on the state of care for people displaced by the country’s violent conflict.
The mayors will appear before the high court on Thursday to talk about the coordination of help for war victims and how the national and local governments cooperate in helping the 2 – 4 million people displaced in Colombia.
The governors of Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca will also have to appear before the court.
Provision of aid to the displaced led to frictions between the city of Bogota and the national government last year when 3,000 refugees camped in the center of the city to demand help. Bogota said the conflict and the resulting displacement was a national problem and required national funding, while the national government demanded that city take care of its own homeless population.
The Constitutional Court has previously intervened to force the government to admit the country’s massive displacement qualifies as a humanitarian disaster, so that more funds would be available for aid.
