Victims of the conflict between the ages of 18 and 50 obtain their military card for free thanks to the protocol for the exchange of information and operational operation of the exemption measure in the provision of military service signed between the Victims Unit and the National Army.

Through a formal act at Instituto Educativo Tecnico Blas Torres de la Torre (ITIDA), the Victims Unit together with the Mayor's Office of Soledad in coordination with the Second Recruitment Area of ​​the National Army, opened the conference Delivery of military notebooks that will take place from this until December 18 in the municipality of Soledad, in which 1.000 male victims of armed conflict, mostly young people, and vulnerable population with Sisbén, will be benefited in the department of Atlántico with their military passbook document at no cost.

People who are only children, are included in the Single Registry of Victims, have a physical or cognitive disability, are in Sisbén I, II, or III, and in a condition of abandonment on the street, are exonerated by law from providing the military service, and the payments and fines that this process concerns.

 “To access work, higher education, even to leave the country looking for new horizons, the military card is required, and a government that thinks about the progress of its youth and its community has the obligation to provide its population the minimum tools necessary to advance and improve their living conditions, and this is what the Victims Unit seeks to guarantee to the victims of conflict”, expressed the territorial director in Atlántico, Alfredo Palencia.

Some members of Soledad Municipal Participation Table were present at the event, who highlighted the event as a measure of satisfaction for the victims of the municipality and the department.

“This is an act of satisfaction for reluctant young and adult victims to come and make use of this right. That is why we ask the Unit, the territorial entity and whoever is responsible to continue working on this type of conference and strategies to advance in the reparation of victims”, said Olivia Medina, coordinator of the Board of Victims of Soledad.

The Victims Unit, the Ministry of Defense and the National Army's Directorate of Recruitment and Control of Reserves, signed since 2015 a protocol for the exchange of information and operational operation of the exemption measure in the provision of military service, disincorporation and delivery of military cards to victims of armed conflict in Colombia.

This agreement has resulted in more than 51.673 victims obtaining their passbook in order to more easily carry out any procedure in the country and access better job opportunities. Among that number, 3.892 have been delivered so far in 2020.

(Fin/HDP/LMY/AEB)