Refugees: Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace

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Refugees: Accord for a Firm and Lasting Peace

Implementations

Refugees – 1997

Approximately 4,000 refugees, mainly from Mexico, returned to Guatemala. Some 32,500 refugees still remained in Mexico.1

In order to help displaced persons return to a normal life, the Congress adopted the Temporary Special Act on Personal Documentation of the Population Uprooted by the Internal Armed Conflict, which took effect on 16 October 1997. Some municipalities refused to implement it, however, and the Ministry of the Interior for its part failed to ensure the law was properly observed across the country.2

  1. “Sixth Report of the Director of the United Nations Mission for the Verification of Human Rights and of Compliance with the Commitments of the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights on Guatemala,” United Nations General Assembly (A/51/790), January 31, 1997.
  2. “Eighth Report on Human Rights of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala,” United Nations General Assembly (A/52/946), June 15, 1998.

Refugees – 1998

No developments observed this year.

Refugees – 1999

The process of repatriating Guatemalan refugees from Mexico was completed on 30 June 1999. Approximately 43,000 persons in total were resettled, but they faced a precarious situation in Guatemala due to shortcomings in with land access programs.3

  1. “Report of the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) for the Consultative Group Meeting for Guatemala,” United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala — MINUGUA, January 18, 2002.

Refugees – 2000

While the Government made plans to improve education, health and housing programs for resettled persons, it did not actually allocate funds to the projects.4

  1. Ibid.

Refugees – 2001

No significant progress was made toward comprehensive rural development, and displaced persons especially suffered from social exclusion and denied access to land. Whatever projects were being implemented were piecemeal and short-sighted.5

  1. “United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala: Report of the Secretary-General,” United Nations General Assembly (A/55/973), June 1, 2001.

Refugees – 2002

No developments observed this year.

Refugees – 2003

No developments observed this year.

Refugees – 2004

No developments observed this year.

Refugees – 2005

No developments observed this year.

Refugees – 2006

No major developments related to refugees took place in 2006. In 2007, the last large group of refugees—about 150 persons—returned from Bolivia to Guatemala after living in exile over 20 years.6

  1. Mica Rosenberg, “Refugees Return from Poverty in Exile,” The Advertiser, April 3, 2007, 27.