The United Nations (U.N.) says that 1,500 displaced people in Colombia have been killed in the last three years, and that many victims of displacement are still too afraid to return to their homes, reports RCN.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said that there is a lack of guarantees for the protection of victims, whose fundamental rights are often violated.
UNHCR representative Terry Morel said that four people who were in the process of getting their land back have been killed in the past two weeks in the departments of Choco and Valle.
In late September the Santos administration presented its Victims Law to the Colombian Congress. The proposed law sets out a process of reparation and assistance available to the more than 4 million Colombians affected by the country’s armed conflict.
The initiative is made up of four points, Santos said in his presentation to Congress. First, victims will receive health and education assistance as well as debt relief. Second, the government will set funds aside for humanitarian assistance in the case of new acts of violence. The third provision will provide restitution to victims, with the intention of returning the land and resources they held before they were victims of violence. The final aspect of the law will see the creation of the National System of Comprehensive Care and Reparation for Victims.
