QUITO, Aug 30, 2007 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- About 1,500 Colombian refugees, who entered neighboring Ecuador last week, began to return home on Thursday after an agreement was reached with their country over a controversial coca farm.
Representatives of the Colombian Foreign Ministry have promised to resume negotiations to provide necessary support to peasants in southern Colombia so that they can start alternative farming after the coca was eradicated.
Some 2,000 Colombians entered Ecuador as refugees last week. They called for a halt to the coca elimination until the government sets up an aid plan for the jobless peasants.
Ecuador demanded Colombia's government assume responsibility for the refugee issue, saying that the situation has posed a security problem for it.
On Wednesday, a Colombian Foreign Ministry commission arrived in Ecuador to hold talks with the refugees.
The Colombian government decided to eradicate the coca crop, which has largely been sold to rebels, who use it in producing cocaine. The drugs, which are normally sold to the United States and Europe, have generated funds for the rebel groups.