VZCZCXYZ0005
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #3267/01 3002145
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 272145Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0526
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0122
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0452
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ NOV LIMA 0478
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 003267 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREF PGOV PTER CO
SUBJECT: COLOMBIA: GOVERNMENT SHOWS DECLINE IN NEW DISPLACEMENTS, 
LAUNCHES NEW ASSISTANCE STRATEGY 
 
REF: BOGOTA 1552 
 
SUMMARY 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) The Colombian Government's (GOC) national registry of 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) shows a 10% decline in 
displacements in 2008.  Social Action (Accion Social), the GOC's 
development agency charged with IDP assistance coordination, has 
registered only 86,397 new displacements through September of this 
year, refusing nearly 40% of displacement declarations as 
illegitimate.  The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) 
reported similar trends in its assistance programs.  However, the 
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and a local human rights 
group point out that the GOC's figures are preliminary and will 
continue to climb due to the lag in persons coming forward to 
register.  To address a court decision determining that the GOC's 
response to IDPs remains unconstitutional, the government has 
launched a new strategy based on distributing cash during the 
initial emergency assistance phase, contracting directly with local 
operators to implement activities, and channeling IDPs into other 
government assistance programs.  The GOC budgeted a hefty $500 
million for IDP programs in 2010, but it is not certain that it can 
actually spend that much money this year.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
NEW DISPLACEMENTS ON THE DECLINE 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) The GOC's national IDP registry shows a 10% decline in 
displacements with 294,138 new IDPs in 2008 compared with 325,031 
persons displaced in 2007.  Armando Escobar, a senior policy 
adviser for Accion Social, told the Embassy's Refugee Coordinator 
and USAID IDP Office Director on August 27 that the government has 
refused nearly 40% of IDP declarations in 2009, many cases due to 
fraud.  For example, many refused applicants are deemed to be 
economic migrants or unqualified individuals looking to take 
advantage of the government assistance.  Additionally, the 
government announced in April that it had detected a "mafia" of 
lawyers and others charging individuals $20-$130 to help them file 
bogus displacement claims to access assistance. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Escobar added that the growth in cumulative IDP 
registrations in the past year (404,152 registrations in 2008 for a 
total of 3.2 million IDPs included in the GOC's national registry) 
was a result of a 2008 Administrative Court (Consejo de Estado) 
order requiring the government to include displacements from all 
previous years.  Under the previous system, an IDP only had one 
calendar year from displacement to register with the government. 
According to Accion Social, only 86,397 of the 223,962 (40%) IDPs 
registered from January to September 2009 were actually displaced 
in this year and 40,552 (21%) were from displacements that occurred 
in 2000 and earlier. 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Martin Bissig, the humanitarian assistance coordinator for 
ICRC Colombia, told us on September 16 that ICRC has refused 
approximately half of IDP applicants seeking assistance in 2009 for 
reasons similar to those cited by Accion Social (para 2).  Bissig 
attributed this to improved verification procedures, but added that 
the amount of displacement in the country remains a concern with an 
average of nearly 300,000 new displacements included in the 
government's registry in each of the past four years.  As a result, 
ICRC will likely assist fewer than the planned 70,000 beneficiaries 
 
 
based on current trends in 2009. 
 
 
 
NOT THE FINAL NUMBERS 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Roberto Mignone, the deputy representative for UNHCR 
Colombia, told us on August 26 that the GOC's statistics showing 
declining displacements are premature.  IDPs from 2008 continue to 
register and there have been significant displacement events in 
recent months, so 2008 and 2009 figures will continue to climb.  He 
added that under-registration remains a problem given many IDPs 
cannot or do not register with the government due to fear of 
retaliation from illegal armed actors or lack of access to the 
registration system. 
 
 
 
¶6. (U) In an October 13 press release, a local human rights group, 
the Observatory for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), 
reported that at least 3,000 persons had been displaced in the 
previous five days.  CODHES also noted that approximately 900 
persons in the Pacific Coast area of the department of Narino had 
fled confrontations between the Colombian Military and the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) since September 3. 
Marco Romero, the president of CODHES, told us on August 27 that 
the government's registry does not accurately reflect the true 
scope of the displacement problem, and that Accion Social 
arbitrarily refuses many cases.  He estimated the GOC 
under-registers approximately 30% of displacements. 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) CODHES issued a report in April that said displacements had 
risen nearly 25% in 2008 with an estimated 380,863 new IDPs, which 
was comparable to the peak of displacement in 2002 (reftel). 
However, CODHES has a broader definition of displacement than the 
GOC that includes IDPs who have migrated in response to drug 
eradication efforts, as well as IDPs who may have already 
registered with the GOC and have been displaced a second or more 
times.  CODHES estimates displacements based on information 
obtained from the Catholic Church, ICRC, the media, civil society, 
and some field work. 
 
 
 
AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL STATE OF AFFAIRS 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) Despite the decline in its statistics, the GOC continues to 
face challenges in providing effective assistance to IDPs.  In 
January 2009, the Constitutional Court found that the 
"unconstitutional state of affairs" in the government's response -- 
originally declared in 2004 -- persisted and ordered the government 
to reformulate its programs and policies.  The Court also ordered 
the government to implement specific protection and assistance 
programs for displaced indigenous, Afro-Colombians, and disabled 
persons (a previous 2008 order provided this right for displaced 
women and children).  To lift the unconstitutional state, the 
government must demonstrate that assistance programs guarantee the 
effective "enjoyment of rights" of IDPs as measured against 40 
Court-mandated rights across the categories of minimal existence, 
socio-economic stabilization, protection, and reparation. 
 
 
 
ACCION SOCIAL'S NEW IDP STRATEGY 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (U) Accion Social's Escobar told us that the GOC started a new 
strategy in July that will address the immense needs of IDPs and 
the Court's concerns.  The new IDP strategy distributes cash during 
the 90-day emergency assistance phase, instead of providing food 
aid, household kits, psychosocial attention, and income generation 
assistance directly to IDPs in an integrated assistance package 
according to the old strategy.  An IDP family of three to five 
persons in a large city (more than 1 million habitants) will 
receive approximately $210 per month for 90 days to purchase food, 
housing, household items, and other necessities.  The amount is 
slightly less for IDPs in rural areas and smaller cities and towns. 
(Note:  The national minimum wage is approximately $250 per month.) 
Additional emergency assistance beyond 90 days may be provided 
based on a needs assessment.  The goal is to provide assistance in 
a quicker, more cost effective manner, and to fully integrate IDP 
assistance into the government's larger strategy to address poverty 
and other vulnerable populations. 
 
 
 
¶10. (U) Under the new strategy, the government has contracted 
directly with local operators to provide assistance such as income 
generation activities to IDPs.  Accion Social allowed agreements 
with its two primary international implementing partners, 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) and CHF 
International, to expire in February.  Accion Social determined 
that it could gain considerable savings by contracting directly 
with local operators already implementing these activities.  Since 
July, Accion Social has awarded $50 million in contracts to local 
operators, with plans for more awards later this year. 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) Escobar explained that under the new strategy, once an IDP 
is registered and receives emergency cash assistance, Accion Social 
assesses the needs of the IDP and makes a referral to other 
government programs for vulnerable populations, such as "Red 
Juntos" (an extreme poverty reduction program), "Familias en 
Accion" (a social assistance program for vulnerable families with 
children), and job training with the national training service or 
other providers.  Accion Social also plans to develop a new program 
targeting vulnerable women and to provide other "differentiated" 
assistance programs targeting other vulnerable groups, such as 
indigenous and Afro-Colombian IDPs.  The new strategy provides 
accompaniment to IDPs for five years. 
 
 
 
THE DEVIL IS IN THE 3.2 MILLION DETAILS 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶12. (U) A major challenge for the new strategy is the size of the 
GOC's IDP registry.  More than 3.2 million IDPs have been 
registered to date, including 294,138 new displacements in 2008. 
Accion Social has to go back and assess their needs, while still 
managing new registrations.  Escobar estimates that approximately 
700,000 family groups are in the government's registry, out of 
which 400,000 households can actually be located.  Escobar hopes to 
have the 400,000 family units assessed by December, and to start 
referring them into other GOC programs. 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Escobar estimates that, by the end of five years of 
assistance, at least half of IDPs will be "enjoying their full 
rights" as defined by the Court.  A 2008 survey carried out by the 
 
 
Commission for the Observation of Public Policy on Internal 
Displacement (a Constitutional Court-mandated civil society group 
formed to provide research and data on the IDP situation) found 
that while 84% of IDPs were receiving some assistance, only 1% were 
enjoying all of their rights.  Accion Social and other government 
agencies are due to provide an update on progress to the Court on 
October 30, and then again in July 2010. 
 
 
 
A BUDGET TO MATCH THE CHALLENGE 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶14. (SBU) The GOC announced it will budget approximately $500 
million for IDP programs in 2010.  This is an eight-fold increase 
over the IDP budget in 2003 -- and a tripling of the budget over 
the past four years.  However, now that that Accion Social has 
ended the IDP emergency assistance and income generation contracts 
with its two primary international implementing partners and 
contracted directly with local operators, it is not certain they 
will have the capacity to actually program all of the budget this 
year. 
BROWNFIELD