Despite the mass displacement in Mexico due to the drug related violence, the government does not have the necessary legal and institutional framework to address the needs of IDPs nor has it requested assistance from international organizations, according to a report published last week by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Council of Refugees.
The report by the independent Oslo-based research body highlighted that more systematic research is needed to assess the full scale of displacement in Mexico. However, large-scale and gradual displacements have been identified through media reports, human rights organizations as well as a study by the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez (UACJ). The states most affected have been Chihuahua and Tamaulipas, and to lesser extent Michoacán, Durango and Sinaloa.
Large-scale displacements have been recorded in Tamaulipas, Michoacán and Guerrero, according to the IDMC. The largest one registered so far was in Michoacán, where 2,000 people were forced to flee in 2010. Gradual displacement has been mostly registered in Ciudad Juárez. In the last three years, about 220,000 people have left this Northern city due to the sustained violence. Half of them have been identified as internal IDPs. One private consultancy report estimated 1.6 million people have been displaced by the drug violence, but the methodology used to arrive to this figure is uncertain.
Since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006, about 50,000 soldiers have been deployed throughout the country. The mass displacement of citizens has occurred within the context of the battles between drug cartels and the military. Some of the effects of the drug-related violence and the militarisation of public security listed on the report have been widespread threats and attacks to journalists; violence against ‘transmigrants’ en-route to the United States; and increasing complaints against the armed forces for human rights violations.
People forced to flee their homes have lost their property, livelihoods and their identification documents. In one mass displacement case in Guerrero, 79 people lost their personal document and were not able to access social benefits. Their security is precarious, as the report notes:
“For example, those fleeing from Valle de Juárez around Ciudad Juárez have fled to the south-eastern part of Juárez, where armed violence is also intense. Small business owners fleeing to Veracruz have also been attacked by cartels there (Fundación Mepi, 2011)”.
Despite this, the government has no mechanisms in place to ensure the physical or legal protection of their property, nor does it address the basic needs of IDPs in order to prevent them from falling into poverty. The report stresses that “while the government’s military strategy to combat the cartels has led the violence to increase, it has had no plan to address the results of its intervention, including the resulting displacement”.
Last October, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs expressed its concern about the displacement situation in Mexico and offered to assist the government. However, there has been no formal effort or pledge to remedy the situation of the victims of the drug war violence.
Finally, the report is grounded on the view that Mexico is facing an internal conflict. For more discussion on this subject, read Patrick Gallahue’s article "Mexico’s 'War on Drugs': Real or Rhetorical Armed Conflict?", published in the Journal of International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict. Just click here. (PDF, 3 MB) Open in new tab
To read the full report, click here.
Citation: Norwegian Refugee Council. 'Mexico: Forced displacement due to drug cartel violence. '(IDMC Briefing) December 2010
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