Raizal

Demographics

In 2005, the Raizal were 57% of the 60,000 inhabitants of the San Andrés y Providencia Department, according to official statistics, but based on the 2015 census, they are now only 39.4% of the population in the archipelago because of migration from and to mainland Colombia. Raizals are mostly multi-racial, with a majority being of West African and Northern European descent. The Raizal community in the mainland is represented by the Organización de la comunidad raizal con residencia fuera del archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina (ORFA, based in Bogotá).

Self-determination

In 1903, the local Raizal population of the Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands rejected an offer from the United States to separate from Colombia and to imitate Panama.

Towards the late 1960s, separatist movements became active in the archipelago. The first separatists, an underground movement, were led by Marcos Archbold Britton, who addressed a memorandum to the United Nations (UN) asking for the inclusion of the archipelago in the list of colonized territories. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) paid a private visit to the archipelago shortly afterwards, arousing suspicion in mainland Colombia.

The second movement, which started in the late 1970s, grew stronger in the following decade, and culminated in the creation in March 1984 of the Sons of the Soil Movement (S.O.S.), openly claiming the right to self-determination.

Since 1999, another organization, the Archipelago Movement for Ethnic Native Self-Determination (AMEN-SD), a separatist movement led by Rev. Raymond Howard Britton, has sought the creation of an independent state.

There are now, according to a document from the Colombian government, two trends among the Raizals: a radical one, the Pueblo Indígena Raizal, represented by the Indigenous Native Organizations, among whom AMEN, Barraca New Face, Infaunas (a Rastafarian-inspired group of farmers and fishermen), Ketna (Ketlënan National Association) and the SOS Foundation, and a more moderate one, Comunidad Raizal (Native Foundation and Integración Básica) led by former governors who are friends of the Colombian establishment, mainly Felix Palacios, Carlos Archbold and Alvaro Archbold N. The latter group is more ready to participate in bipartite institutions set up by the Colombian authorities.

On April 28, 2002, the Raizal people signed a declaration of self-determination and asked the Colombian government and the International Court of Justice for a major recognition of their autonomy and for appropriate resources to improve the quality of life on the island.

Colombia recognizes the Raizal as an ethnic community and guarantees collective rights under the relevant legislation. The Colombian Constitutional Court has affirmed collective rights of the Raizal in several decisions, particularly the obligation of prior consultation. These include T-701/2013 and T-800/2014, which emphasize special protection of the Raizal community in the archipelago. Article 131 of Law 1753/2015 explicitly obliges the government to submit a draft Estatuto del Pueblo Raizal to Congress after prior consultation with the community. Related initiatives and consultation processes are documented; however, no final autonomy statute has been adopted to date. Independent reports further highlight continuing shortcomings in the implementation of collective rights.

References

References

1. "Estadística de los grupos étnicos 2018". Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE).
2. Fernando Urrea Giraldo. (October 12, 2007). "La visibilidad estadística de la población negra o afrodescendiente en Colombia, 1993–2005: entre lo étnico y lo racial". 12º Congreso de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
3. (2012). "Caracterización de la población con limitaciones permanentes en Colombia, 2005". DANE.
4. website: [https://organizacionraizal.blogspot.com/ Organización de la Comunidad Raizal con Residencia Fuera del Archipiélago]
5. Adriana Matamoros Insignares. (January 15, 2007). "Recordando a Marcos Archbold Britton, líder independentista raizal". Fundación Hemera.
6. website: [http://www.amensd.org ''Archipelago Movement for Ethnic Native Self-Determination for the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providence and Kethlena''] {{webarchive. link. (2007-12-13)
7. Actualidad Étnica. (June 4, 2007). "Raizales de San Andrés reclaman autonomía". Fundación Hemera.
8. Programa Presidencial de Derechos Humanos y Derecho Internacional Humanitario. (November 23, 2007). "Diagnóstico Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina".
9. "Nosotros, el pueblo indígena Raizal del Archipiélago de San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina, considerando que".
10. "Comunidades negras, afrocolombianas, raizales y palenqueras". Government of Colombia.
11. (2013). "Sentencia T-701/13".
12. (2014). "Sentencia T-800/14".
13. (2015). "Ley 1753 de 2015 – Plan Nacional de Desarrollo, Artículo 131". Government of Colombia.
14. "Estatuto Raizal". Government of Colombia.
15. (2018). "Proyecto de Ley 079 de 2018 – Estatuto Raizal". Congress of the Republic of Colombia.
16. (2022). "UN Response Regarding the Raizal People".
17. (2022). "The Indigenous World 2022 – Colombia".