This is what is known about the indigenous people in the National Park in Bogotá after the characterization day: there are more than 1,500

In compliance with the decision of guardianship of the Third Court, based in Suba, and after two failed attempts, the District succeeded in carrying out on the morning of this Thursday, March 24, the characterization of the Embera indigenous people settled in the National Park.

As reported by the District, the process began in the early hours of the morning with the installation of a Unified Command Post, where the Ministry of the Interior and its Directorate for Indigenous and Minority Affairs, the Secretariat of Government and the High Council for Peace, Victims and Reconciliation accompanied the process of identifying members of the Embera community, while ensuring the guarantee of their rights.

After the day of work with the indigenous communities in the National Park, the High Council reported that the preliminary data of the characterization process showed that 275 Embera Chamí and Katío families are housed in the sector, that is, a total of 747 people, while, from other indigenous groups, were registered 261 families, equivalent to 838 people.

Thus, according to the data collected by the District, there are currently 536 indigenous families settled in the National Park, which means a total of 1,585 people.

“It should be noted that 90% of the people belonging to the Bakatá process do not spend the night in the National Park, since they arrived in the last hours (between Wednesday night and early Thursday),” clarified the High Council for Peace.

On the other hand, the entity reported that, during the characterization process, a brigade from the Ministry of Health was also present, in order to assess the health status of indigenous communities, and thus ensure relevant medical services.

After the day of identification of the indigenous community, the District will have to begin the process of returning these families to their ancestral territories, as was done in previous weeks with the indigenous communities settled in La Florida Park. To this end, a voluntary process of the Embera people must be carried out, that is, monitoring through which families want to return under the guarantees granted to them by the national government will be identified.

“From the characterization, we will begin to search for routes that, within each indigenous people and according to the particular situation of each of the people who are in the National Park, can find prompt solutions,” said in a dialogue with Noticias Caracol, the delegate for the Public Ministry and guarantor of rights Ricardo Medina Rico.

It should be recalled that on Tuesday, March 1, the Unit for Victims, in cooperation with the Government Secretariat and the High Council for Peace, Victims and Reconciliation of Bogotá, launched the return to their territories of 79 Embera indigenous families who were in the Protection Unit of La Florida Park.

In total, according to Rodríguez, 58 families returned to Bagadó (Chocó) on March 1; 12 returned to Pueblo Rico (Risaralda), while another 9 returned to Carmen de Atrato (Chocó).

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