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GENEVA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chief of the United Nations (UN) refugee agency Filippo Grandi on Friday congratulated Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on winning the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.
"I was in Colombia not so long ago and what I saw on the ground was extraordinary commitment by the government, the FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) and the civil society in particular to make this work," said Grandi, high commissioner for refugees for the Office of the the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"I am sure that having seen that commitment, the present complicated political impasse will be overcome," he added.
Santos initiated the negotiations that culminated in a peace accord between the Colombian government and the FARC, the country's largest rebel group.
The peace agreement, seen as the first step to end decades-old conflict in the country, however, was narrowly rejected in a referendum on Sunday.
Colombia is one of the countries that host the largest internally displaced populations in the world. Some 6 to 7 million Colombians have had to flee their homes since the conflict started in 1964.
The protracted war has also resulted in some 220,000 deaths.
