Colombia

One of the problems behind the ongoing armed conflict is a controversy about the possession and use of Colombia’s most productive land. 

 

About eight million hectares have been confiscated illegally, mainly from indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. 

It is one of the major causes for Colombia’s massive levels of internal displacement, homelessness and poverty, and the consequent misery afflicting a large portion of the population.

 

Women are disproportionately represented among Colombia’s internally displaced population, often fleeing to the informal slums and shanty-towns that have developed around Colombia’s major cities. 

 

The Constitutional Court of Colombia has ruled in favour of the inclusion into national law of international human rights law and guidelines in support of housing rights and property restitution for IDPs.