Mysterious disappearances of ex-combatants who abandoned their reintegration: 1,000 lost and without a trace


ARN reports decline in ex-combatants in reintegration programs – credit Jesús Áviles/Infobae

During the event, Director of the Agency for Reincorporation and Normalization (ARN) Alejandra Miller mentioned the decrease in the number of ex-FARC fighters participating in reintegration programs after the signing of the 2016 peace agreement.

According to the report submitted This year, 13,609 people surrendered their weapons as part of the demobilization process. However, this figure has undergone changes and currently only 11,233 active stays are reported. signatories within programs offered by the state to support their transition to civilian life.

The director explained that this decline is due to various factors, among others They stand out for the natural deaths of nearly 400 ex-combatants and the murders of 465 signatories in the period after the agreement was signed. In addition, the ARN has lost track of approximately 1,000 ex-combatants who have left the reincorporation process and to this day there is no certainty as to their whereabouts or current activities.

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1,000 ex-combatants whose current whereabouts are unknown, according to Alejandra Miller - Credit Agency for Reintegration and Normalization
1,000 ex-combatants whose current whereabouts are unknown, according to Alejandra Miller – Credit Agency for Reintegration and Normalization

“There are few who are lost from the system. “They left reincorporation and we don’t know where they are”said Miller, who pointed out that to date there is not enough information to determine whether these people have returned to criminal activity or whether they have decided to distance themselves completely from any context of illegality.

During her intervention, Director Alejandra Miller highlighted the urgent need to relocate several Territorial Training and Reintegration Spaces (ETCRs), places to facilitate the reintegration of former FARC fighters who participated in the signing of the peace agreement in 2016. According to data provided by the ARN, only 15% of the signatories , who continue the reincorporation process, lives in ETCR. Meanwhile, 44% decided to move to urban areas and 41% dispersed to rural areas.

The ETCR situation is complex because many of these spaces do not have legal title to the land they are located on, making it difficult to develop long-term projects. Miller explained that the priority is to “relocate approximately nine ETCRs that currently do not have their own land and their locations do not allow for the purchase of said land.”

Violence affected 465 peace agreement signatories murdered since 2016 - credit Carlos Ortega/EFE
Violence affected 465 peace agreement signatories murdered since 2016 – credit Carlos Ortega/EFE

In this sense, he explained that the solution includes the acquisition of suitable land to definitively establish these spaces, which includes areas such as Carrizal and Remedios in Antioquia, Etcr in Putumayo and two in the north of Cauca, located in Buenos Aires and Miranda, all considered for priorities due to the high security risk they face.

As part of the reincorporation process, a total of 3,015 women and 8,218 men remain committed to civilian life, along with 1,879 people with disabilities. The geographical concentration of this population is mainly distributed in the departments of Meta, Antioquia and Cauca, with percentages of 13%, 11% and 10%, respectively, reflecting a high presence in these regions according to the RNA data.

Only 27% of ex-combatants in rural areas own their own home - credit John Vizcaino/REUTERS
Only 27% of ex-combatants in rural areas own their own home – credit John Vizcaino/REUTERS

The productive component has been one of the areas of greatest progress in the reincorporation process. To date, 5,964 projects have been implemented, of which 133 are collective, the rest are individual initiatives that have benefited a total of 11,022 people, with an investment exceeding 104,160 million pesos.

In terms of land availability, a total of 13,663 hectares have been farmed for the signatories of the agreement, representing significant progress in the provision of resources for agricultural production and the establishment of self-sustaining projects. In terms of housing, problems persist: Only 27% of ex-combatants living in rural areas managed to get into their own home, and the situation is even more critical in urban areas, where only 11% of this population have their own home.

Despite these difficulties, ARN reports that a group of 74 people managed to obtain subsidies from the Mi Casa Ya housing program in an effort to address housing and strengthen the stability of this community in the process.





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