Motivated by the interest in knowing the progress of the process of reestablishing territorial rights in favor of the victims of dispossession and forced abandonment, the Austrian ambassador to Colombia, Gerhard Doujak, visited the headquarters of the Land Restitution Unit (URT) in Villavicencio.
The diplomat arrived accompanied by Islena Rey, representative of the Civic Committee for Human Rights of Meta, and was received by César Santoyo, territorial director of the URT in this department, as well as by the team of collaborators of the entity, which serves around 12,000 requests from victims of the armed conflict.
“I am very grateful for the welcome. I realized the importance of the work that is carried out here to heal wounds, to heal the past, and above all the commitment of the people who work for the victims. “You cannot undo what has happened, but you can do something so that it does not happen again,” Doujak said during the meeting.
For his part, the territorial director Santoyo thanked the diplomat for his presence at the Unit’s facilities in Villavicencio, and his interest in knowing the progress of the reparation process for the victims of the dispossession and forced abandonment of land, a policy that contributes to Peace. Complete the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform promoted by the Government of President Gustavo Petro.
Santoyo highlighted that, in the last 20 months, judges and magistrates have issued 1,521 sentences for the restitution of 92,662 hectares. In addition, the National Government facilitated the material delivery and compensation of 35,674 hectares, of which 16,000 correspond to the Florida Kawinanae Indigenous Reservation, located in the municipality of Puerto Gaitán.
The Unit improved the approval rate for restitution requests, which went from a denial of 65% in previous administrations to 72% under the current Government.
Finally, Santoyo reported that the team of the Meta Territorial Directorate is working hard to meet the goals of the current term, which consist of the adoption of 400 substantive decisions, the filing of 133 demands, the monitoring and compliance with 126 restitution orders. and the implementation of 40 productive projects.
Source: Land Restitution Unit (URT)