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Mexico: Displacement due to criminal and communal violence

mex-cp-nov2011
Abandoned home in Chihuahua because of drug-cartel violence.  (Photo: El Universal/Jorge Serratos, June 2010)
There are currently several situations of internal displacement in Mexico. Possibly the largest has been caused since 2007 by the violence of drug cartels and the government’s military response. This has caused displacement in the states of Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Durango, Guerrero, Sinaloa and Michoacán.

This displacement has been little documented, and more comprehensive studies of its scale and impact are needed. Three cases of mass displacement reportedly caused the displacement of some 3,000 people; otherwise the violence has caused gradual displacement which has been reported only rarely. However, a research centre which documented displacement in Ciudad Juárez found that up to 220,000 people had left their place of residence in the area over three years as a result of the violence, of which about half reportedly remained in the country as IDPs. A private consultancy report cited by several media sources has suggested that the violence has internally displaced 1.6 million people in the last five years; however the report is not publicly available and the basis of the figure is unknown. (...)

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25 November 2011



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Internal Displacement Profile

"Resumen del Informe en español","Resumen del Informe en español"
"Causes and Background","Background","Causes of displacement","Peace efforts"
"Population Figures and Profile","Global figures","Geographical distribution","Disaggregated data"
"Patterns of Displacement","General"
"Physical Security & Freedom of Movement","Physical security","Freedom of movement"
"Subsistence Needs","General","Food","Health","Water and sanitation","Shelter and non-food items"
"Access to Education","General"
"Issues of Self-Reliance and Public Participation","General","Public participation"
"Documentation Needs and Citizenship","General"
"Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture","General"
"Property Issues","General"
"Patterns of Return and Resettlement","Return","Resettlement"
"Humanitarian Access","General"
"National and International Responses","National Response","International Response","Selected NGO activities","Selected activities of the Red Cross Movement","Recommendations","Reference to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement"

Previous Profile updates


IDMC in the media 
Radio Nederland Wereldomroep, 7 June 2011
Mexico: IDMC interview on Radio Netherlands
Interview with IDMC