10 million pesos asks for Yupka indigenous family to withdraw from settlement in Bucaramanga

7 members of a family belonging to the Yupka indigenous community refused to return to their territory, Serranía del Perija, an area on the border with Venezuela, despite being present at the day where they moved other families. The negotiations between the mayor's office and these people did not materialize because there are some minors who are already studying in official schools in Santander.

Melisa Franco, secretary of the interior of the mayor's office of Bucaramanga, showed on her Twitter account how the humanitarian day was held where 10 Yupka Indians, who had been living in the iconic Santander Park, moved since the end of last year.

“We anticipated the humanitarian transfer of 10 other Yukpa Indians, six adults and four minors, who were living in García Rovira Park; another family of 7 people decided to stay in our municipality to get ahead with their minor children,” said the official, who was accompanied by the Ombudsman's Office, Bucaramanga Police, the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation, the Personería de Bucaramanga, Migration Colombia, the Government of Santander and other regional entities.

During the day, the indigenous people were given toilet kits and markets; in addition, cleaning work was carried out, in order to initiate recovery actions for the García Rovira Park, said the secretary.

The family who decided to stay in the capital of Santander, according to the official report, assured that they would not retire from the park, until their demands are met by the national government. “They continue to have quite high and unviable economic claims, we are talking about $10 million; also, housing or a rental subsidy. We are going to continue the work tables, and the Office of the Ombudsman is also intervening in this case,” added Franco, also assures that the idea is to achieve the recovery of the area to begin work on the total settlement, as scheduled by the Secretariat of Infrastructure.

So far this year there have been 2 days of transfer of almost 80 indigenous people, who arrived in the city demanding that their requests be fulfilled, since, according to the community, only poverty and hunger are perceived in its territory.

They even assured that the Ombudsman's Office made visits, but did not offer them any solution to their problems. For this reason, a guardianship action was instituted before this body, since no state entity has given them assistance for their claims. “We are not migrants, we are indigenous,” said one of the members of the Yupka community.

The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (Onic), and its Department of Indigenous Peoples' Rights, expressed their solidarity with the Yukpa indigenous community, in the municipality of El Tarra, Norte de Santander. Through a statement, they reject the armed actors who are present in their settlements and the constant clashes between illegal groups and the public forces, which cause the displacement of this community to urban areas.

On the other hand, they called on the Ministry of Defense, the National Army, the National Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Migration Colombia to act immediately and guarantee the rights of indigenous people “cross-border and plurinational”.

At the beginning of the year, the mayor's office had already met with other institutions to seek solutions, in order to recover public space and provide aid to settled families; but, at the time, they assured that they did not have the resources to meet the demands of the indigenous people.