More Colombian families have now received the title deeds to their
lands thanks to a land formalization strategy supported by IOM,
funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and
implemented by Colombia's Rural Development Institute.

Today, 240 families in Chaparral in the centre-west department
of Tolima will be formally handed their title deeds at a ceremony
attended by Colombian Agricultural Minister, Juan Camilo Restrepo,
Ken Yamashita, USAID Director in Colombia and IOM Chief of Mission
in Bogotá, Marcelo Pisani.

The region, one of the most affected by the violent presence of
guerrilla groups and in recent years by paramilitary groups, has
witnessed gross human rights violations with large numbers of
murder victims, kidnappings, disappearances and forced
displacement. 

The families, who were assisted by IOM through the payment of
all legal and administrative expenses related to their land
ownership claims, will now be able to access different benefits
from the government including loans for agricultural
development.

In Colombia, informal land ownership rates are very high.
According to official sources, more than one million rural
properties are informal. This has made it easier for armed groups
to dispossess farmers of their properties, contributing to
Colombia's high level of internal displacement. More than three
million Colombians are displaced, having been forced to leave
behind their homes and lands.

The formalization strategy in this region has been part of IOM
land restitution efforts since 2009 in a bid to counter-act the
dispossession dynamics in the country. An estimated two million
hectares of farm land have been abandoned by people fleeing
violence or who were victims of land dispossession.

"It is clear that land formalization makes it more difficult to
dispossess farmers of their property and lessens the risk of forced
displacement," says Camilo Leguízamo, IOM Programme
Coordinator in Colombia. "This is why we have focused on this issue
for some years now and why we support government efforts to hand
back land to its owners. It is a crucial first step to getting
people's lives back on track."

Through three pilot land restitution programmes in Colombia, IOM
has documented more than 1,200 cases of land dispossession and
informal land tenancy and assisted more than 399 people to formally
regain their land.

A cooperation agreement signed by IOM and Colombia's
Agricultural Ministry in September this year has committed the
Organization to working with the government on land restitution for
the next four years. IOM is providing technical assistance in the
drafting of a national plan for Land Restitution, the creation of a
National Land System, formulating, managing and executing the Land
Law and on programmes for formalizing rural land ownership and
rural development.

For more information, please contact:

Jorge Gallo

IOM Bogota

Tel: +57 1 639 7777

E-mail: "mailto:jgallo@iom.int">jgallo@iom.int