Colombia/Somaliland/Somalia: Incorporation of Ex-Combatants in Humanitarian Demining Lessons from Colombia, Somaliland & Southern Somalia

Jan 18, 2018 | Adriana Erthal Abdenur and Laurie Druelle, Instituto Igarapé
View Original

As part of the peace effort between the Colombian government and the FARC, a pilot program was launched in 2015 allowing ex-combatants from the guerrilla to collaborate with Army soldiers in humanitarian demining—an urgent task given the country’s estimated 52 million square meters of contaminated land.  Former combatants from other illegal armed groups in the country had already been participating in humanitarian demining, for instance as part of the staff of the agency HALO Trust, but the pilot program provided new momentum to the effort to incorporate former FARC fighters, including in direct collaboration with Army counterparts. In 2017, after the final peace deal was signed, new ways of incorporating FARC ex-combatants arose, as did interest among this population; by April, some 1,500 ex combatants had signed up to work in demining.