Putumayo approves ordinance to protect people in human mobility

The municipal council of the Autonomous Decentralized Municipal Government of the Putumayo Canton issued the Ordinance for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Persons in Human Mobility and their Family Members, published in the Official Registry, Special Edition No. 1714 on Monday, October 26, 2026. The regulation declares the protection of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, displaced persons, and returnees as a cantonal public policy, and mandates the mainstreaming of this approach across all municipal plans, programs, and services. The canton, located in the province of Sucumbíos, is a tri-border area where Colombian, Peruvian, and Venezuelan flows converge.

Procedure and regulatory backing

The ordinance was discussed in the first debate on July 10, 2025, and in the second debate on April 7, 2026, according to the certification of the general secretary Nelson Wilfrido Guamán Guerrero. It was sanctioned by Mayor Ángel Armando Rea Gualoto on April 14, 2026, and signed in Puerto El Carmen on October 14, 2026; the text spans 31 pages and is structured into seven titles and 31 articles.

The articles are based on Articles 40, 41, and 416 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador, the Organic Law on Human Mobility—whose Articles 165 and 166 assign competencies to the cantonal GADs—and the Organic Code of Territorial Organization, Autonomy and Decentralization. Its principles include universality, pro-persona, the best interests of the child, universal citizenship, equality and non-discrimination, interculturality, hospitality, and welcome.

A tri-border canton with 1,123 censused immigrants

The statement of motives dimensions the phenomenon with official figures:

• 1,123 international immigrants in the canton, according to INEC (2022), of whom 863 reside in rural areas and 260 in urban areas.
• 608 women and 515 men among that immigrant population.
• More than 77,000 people recognized as refugees in Ecuador, according to UNHCR (2024), 95% of whom are of Colombian nationality.
• Around 444,000 Venezuelan people in the country, according to estimates from the Working Group for Refugees and Migrants (GTRM).
• Nearly 3.2% of the Ecuadorian population are refugees or migrants forced to flee their country.

Monthly coordination and local obligations

The text creates an articulation space regarding human mobility within the Cantonal Network for the Protection of Rights, with monthly reviews of situations, needs, risks, and possible violations. This space may issue recommendations to the Cantonal Council for the Protection of Rights and to the municipality, and its functions include:

• Incorporate the human mobility approach into local policies, plans, and projects.
• Identify cases of unaccompanied children and adolescents or those separated from their families.
• Coordinate guidance, care, and protection for people in situations of vulnerability or affected by violence.
• Promote information, awareness, and training for public servants and community actors.
• Drive socioeconomic integration through municipal entrepreneurship, fairs, and training.

The Directorate of Inclusion for Social and Economic Development and the Cantonal Council for the Protection of Rights will be the bodies responsible for coordinating and executing the actions, and the municipality may sign agreements with other levels of government, international cooperation agencies, and non-governmental organizations.

Deadlines and financing

The transitional provisions establish two deadlines counted from the date of entry into force:

• 60 days to socialize the ordinance with the institutions of the Cantonal Network for the Protection of Rights and existing participation spaces.
• 90 days to progressively incorporate the human mobility approach into planning instruments and train the public servants who serve this population.

Article 31 conditions implementation on municipal planning and budget availability, and enables the management of cooperation and concurrence mechanisms with public, private, and civil society entities. The regulation is effective from its approval and sanction, without prejudice to its publication in the municipal official gazette and in the Official Registry.

The ordinance makes Putumayo one of the Ecuadorian municipalities with its own regulatory framework for the care of the population in human mobility, in a territory where the border is not only geographical: it establishes concrete obligations for information, referral, and monthly monitoring, and shifts the migration discussion from the national sphere to the daily service that the municipality provides to its inhabitants, including foreigners already living in the canton.

Source: Official Registry, Special Edition No. 1714, Monday, October 26, 2026, section I, p. 1 (official reference: Special Edition No. 1714).