WRITTEN QUESTION E-3198/00

by Vitaliano Gemelli (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 October 2000)

Subject: Violence in Colombia and continual oppression of its rural and indigenous communities

The serious, ten-year internal conflict in Colombia between drug traffickers and the military, with the occasional backing of the paramilitary, has, over time led to a depopulation of the areas concerned by the fighting on account of the repeated threats, air attacks, murders and massacres to which the local and indigenous communities are being subjected. The areas most directly involved are those which, for economic and political reasons, are of greater strategic importance and which the combatants have an interest in owning or controlling.

Furthermore, forced displacement is on the increase: in 1999, 288 000 people were forced to flee their homes and from 1985 to 1999 over 1 700 000 people were forcibly evacuated.

1. Can the Commission say whether any aid is being granted to the Colombian Government to tackle and overcome this grave social instability?

2. What proposals for social stability is the European Union putting forward in Colombia and which NGOs is it using to do so?

3. What is the Commission's view of the returning communities that are attempting to return people to their homelands?

4. What is the EU's relationship with the Peace Communities in Colombia and to which projects does the Commission plan to give financial support in order to promote development and solidarity and protect communities at risk of displacement?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2000)

The Community is supporting the Colombian government with a substantial multiannual programme. The Commission plans to focus on social and economic development and combating poverty, alternative development, support for the reform of the judiciary sector, support and promotion of human rights, assistance to displaced people, and protection of the environment and tropical forests.

As to the implementation of the Community programmes, this is partly carried out through non-governmental organisations (NGOs), especially in the field of displaced people, community development and environment. Among the European NGOs which carry out projects in Colombia are Oxfam, Caritas, Médécins sans Frontières, Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (Italie) (CISP), Movimento Sviluppo e Pace (Italie) (MSP), Miserior, Katholische Zentralstelle Fur Entwicklungshilfe (Allemagne) (KZE), Agriculteurs Français et Développement International (France) (AFDI), Jugend Dritte Welt, Fonds de Coopération au Développement-Solidarité Socialiste (Belgique) (FCD), Intermon, Broederlijk Delen, and the Greek Committee for International Democratic Solidarity (Grece) (EEDDA).

Concerning the Honourable Member's question on the return of displaced people to their territories of origin, the situation in Colombia at the moment is far from being stable and the number of displaced people is expected to increase even further in the near future. Moreover, the Commission intends to support people willing to return only if the necessary conditions concerning their personal security and the respect for human rights are guaranteed. On an international level, the Community is the principal donor of aid to over 1 million displaced people in Colombia ( 24 million since 1997).

The Commission also supports the peace communities mentioned by the Honourable Member through specific actions carried out by NGOs to meet their needs for humanitarian aid, and through active participation in the Mesa por la paz en Urabá (a platform for peace consisting of different national and international entities) in order to observe the human rights situation in the area, where the peace communities are situated (Urabá).

As to the Honourable Member's question on specific projects working with communities who risk being displaced, the Commission finances the project Cien municipios por la paz (100 municipalities for peace) with the Colombian Redepaz movement. This project of 850 000 seeks to encourage 100 municipalities all over Colombia to co-operate actively in favour of peace.