This paper analyzes local integration processes of forced migrants in the Amazonian borderlands through the design and application of a Local Integration Index. The study examines four peri urban self-built settlements, two in Mocoa (Colombia), and two in Lago Agrio (Ecuador), drawing on survey data from 235 households and a proportional sampling design. The methodological framework builds on the Local Integration Index developed by previous studies, extending it with a fourth dimension of community action to capture practices such as self-construction, mutual aid, and neighborhood upgrading. Binary logistic regression was applied to validate the index and estimate the relative weight of legal, socioeconomic, sociocultural, and community factors. Findings show that integration is partial and uneven. In Mocoa, socioeconomic stability, reinforced by the national laws, provided a basis for integration. In Lago Agrio, the absence of a reparation framework shifted integration toward community cohesion and informal credit networks. Comparative analysis highlights the role of national policy regimes in shaping integration trajectories and emphasizes the centrality of community agency in sustaining permanence. The study contributes a methodological tool for multidimensional measurement and a policy-oriented perspective that recognizes self-built settlements as legitimate urban forms. It calls for aligning international development frameworks with local practices and prioritizing inclusive strategies grounded in capabilities and community cohesion in socially unequal territories.
Bolívar et al. (Sun,) studied this question.