US embassy cable - 04BOGOTA3944

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BOGOTA 003944 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO PRM AND USAID/LAC/SAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREF, PREL, SOCI, CO 
SUBJECT: PRM'S A/S DEWEY DISCUSSES DISPLACEMENT, PEACE 
PROCESS WITH PRM PARTNERS 
 
 
This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
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Summary 
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1. (SBU) As part of his March 7-10 visit to Colombia, PRM 
Bureau's Assistant Secretary Gene Dewey met with PRM partner 
organizations that provide short- and medium-term assistance 
to displaced persons.  Most interlocutors agreed that there 
has been a significant reduction in the number of internally 
displaced persons since the Uribe Administration took office 
18 months ago, but cautioned that this positive trend could 
be reversed if paramilitary demobilization negotiations break 
down or guerrillas launch major offensives.  PRM partners 
noted that a decrease in mass displacements has been largely 
offset by an increase in individual displacements and 
lamented a GOC reluctance to focus on long-term assistance. 
PRM partners told A/S Dewey that they were generally 
satisfied with GOC-provided security.  End Summary. 
 
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PRM Partners Note Decline in Displacements 
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2. (SBU) A/S Dewey stressed to PRM partner organizations - 
the Colombia representative of the International Committee of 
the Red Cross (ICRC), the Colombia representative of the UN 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 
Community-Habitat-Finance (CHF), UNICEF, the Pan American 
Health Organization, and the World Food Program (WFP) - the 
need to resist complacency in the face of a nearly 50 percent 
reduction in new displacements in 2003, and instead continue 
securing international support until Colombia's security 
situation permits the GOC to devote adequate resources to the 
IDP problem.  All concurred.  According to UNHCR, the 
reduction in displacements is the result of the paramilitary 
peace process and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Colombia's (FARC) shift to a defensive posture.  UNHCR 
cautioned that the IDP situation could change rapidly should 
the peace process fail.  The ICRC also feared that 
paramilitary demobilization, unless accompanied by an 
effective state presence, could lead the Revolutionary Armed 
Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN) 
to provoke more mass displacements.  CHF noted that conflict 
between illegal armed groups in urban areas has produced an 
increase in intra-urban displacement and a reluctance among 
IDPs to settle in urban areas traditionally occupied by 
displaced populations. 
 
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Individual Displacements Overtake Mass Displacements 
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3. (SBU) According to the WFP, the decrease in mass 
displacements has been largely offset by an increase in less 
visible individual displacements.  Significant numbers of 
displaced individuals do not register with authorities upon 
their arrival in large cities (as a result, they do not 
qualify for government assistance) for fear they will be 
pressured to return to their places of origin.  The CHF 
agreed.  The ICRC noted that individually displaced persons, 
as opposed to victims of mass displacements, tend to not 
return to their point of origin out of security concerns. 
The ICRC added that GOC emphasis on returning individually 
displaced persons to their homes is counterproductive.  CHF 
added that those who return to their homes regions are not 
guaranteed access to land they previously occupied. 
 
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Need to Focus on Long-Term Assistance 
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4. (SBU) UNHCR and others agreed that assistance should not 
be viewed as merely providing for material needs, but also as 
ensuring that IDPs enjoy the rights and government 
protections enjoyed by other Colombians.  UNHCR stated that 
the current system of assistance, with its focus on providing 
emergency aid for the first three to six months of 
displacement, leaves many IDPs at risk.  UNHCR said GOC 
agencies are not spending all the funds budgeted for 
populations in the post-emergency phases of displacement. 
The ICRC stated that GOC reluctance to focus on long-term 
assistance precluded the ICRC from doing the same.  ICRC 
speculated that greater pressure from the international 
community was needed to convince the GOC to focus on 
long-term issues. 
 
5. (SBU) UNICEF noted that the GOC's failure to gather 
sufficient information on displaced populations had led it to 
downplay the scope of the IDP problem and hobbled its ability 
to provide government services and protections.  The WFP 
predicted that increased individual displacement would cause 
greater financial costs in the long run, because it is harder 
to attend to the needs of dispersed individuals than a 
geographically concentrated group.  Cautioning against 
reliance on dogmatic distinctions between emergency and 
recovery assistance and noting that responses and assistance 
need to be tailored to specific situations, the WFP observed 
that PRM funding mechanisms allow for greater flexibility 
than those of other international donors. 
 
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PRM Partners' Security Concerns 
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6. (SBU) Those present said they were generally satisfied 
with GOC-provided security and noted that they generally had 
not been disturbed by illegal armed groups, although there 
had been isolated problems in conflict zones.  UNHCR and the 
ICRC noted they have been fortunate, but worry that the 
security situation might change as the FARC becomes more 
desperate.  UNICEF noted that the UN is not a military 
objective of the FARC or ELN.  UNICEF expressed concern that 
the paramilitary peace process could result in a fragmented 
command structure in which individual commanders may no 
longer feel constrained to tolerate the presence of 
international organizations in areas they control. 
 
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National Planning Needed 
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7. (SBU) Participants agreed that addressing the IDP problem 
must become a national priority.  UNHCR noted that the 
national response must involve local governments in 
developing local solutions.  A/S Dewey agreed with the 
group's assessment and pledged that the USG would remain 
fully engaged. 
WOOD