About 330 indigenous families returned to the departments of Chocó and Risaralda, participated in the Services Fair organized by the Victims Unit in the district of Santa Cecilia, municipality of Pueblo Rico (Risaralda).
The event had as main objective that the population could access the institutional offer fulfilling the commitments of the process of returns and relocations of the entity.
During the fair, health conditions of returned families, access to care and affiliation were verified, in the same way the steps were taken to provide education components and special emphasis was placed on the care of children and adolescents through recreational activities directed from the psychosocial approach of the Unit through five of its professionals.
“This is an action that we have been preparing for several months from the Unit with the sole objective of ensuring that all of you can stabilize in your territories after fulfilling the return, today we serve the families returned from the different entities and the idea is to meet with the indigenous leaders of the different reservations to review the commitments acquire”, said Luz Patricia Correa, director of Ethnic Affairs of the Unit.
These about 330 indigenous families returned to their ancestral places after having great needs in different capital cities of the country, were given humanitarian aid in kind during the first 4 months following the return to the territories that saw them born.
“I want to highlight the commitment of the Victims Unit with returnees, since in this situation work so difficult that we live inside the shelters, there are very significant financial assistance for the survival of families, without a doubt an immense help to be calm in the coming months”, said Raúl Guasiruma, senior governor of the Unified shelter.
The Colombian Family Welfare Institute has been very attentive in what has to do with the attention of the children and adolescents returned making continuous trips to the territory, likewise the Unit delivered an agricultural productive project for the basic sustenance of 50 of Returned families.
In this regard, Laura Moreno, territorial director of the Unit in the Coffee Axis: “Without a doubt, this type of activity allows us to continue fulfilling the commitments acquired from the institutionalism towards the returned indigenous people, it is a relief to be able to reach the territory with offer official and that is why we must give a gesture of thanks to the entities that accompanied us to guarantee the rights of the communities and fight for their well-being in the safeguards”.
Along with this Service Fair, the Unit began the delivery of a special support scheme to support the food component in money, will be $ 1,200,000 pesos, for each of the returned family nuclei, payments that will be fulfilled in three counted of $ 400,000 thousand pesos as of the date.
“We are making a presence in Santa Cecilia to guarantee the commitments acquired by the Unit through the territorial ones in Chocó and Risaralda, it is a way of saying that we are always present advancing specific actions that promote the welfare of victims and giving them a step voice of encouragement for everyone to remain in their homes avoiding difficulties in the city, they are undoubtedly our reason for being”, said Vanessa Palacio, territorial director of the Unit in Chocó.
In coordination with the Directorate of Ethnic Affairs, the community approach was carried out from the group of returns (review of actions with the community and the mayors’ offices), and the status of the news that the homes in question have today are verified with registration.
“We continue to comply with the guards and returnees, not only with the offer of the entities, also the help in money is quite important to guarantee the welfare of the families in their lands, we meet with the leaders and the commitments are on track, they are guarantors of the work done by the Unit so far”, concluded Yolman Osorio, returns coordinator of the entity.
Finally Jesús Sintúa, returned from Bogotá to the community of Vichubara, said that “we have been in this return process for eight months and I think we are doing well, there is a little more fluid communication between entities and indigenous community, but with the advanced conversations we remain calm to be able to move forward and guarantee our well-being”.
The event was accompanied by SENA, Colombian Family Welfare Institute, Family Police Station, Mayor of Pueblo Rico, Medical Mission of the San Rafael Pueblo Rico Clinic, Army, National Police, Risaralda Governorate, as well as the Ombudsman’s Office, entity which served as guarantor of the entire exercise.
(End/EHB/CMC)
