PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – The crisis of internal displacement caused by violence continues to escalate in Mexico. Between January and June 2023, 26 events of mass displacement were registered across eight states – Chiapas, Chihuahua, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas. This resulted in at least 7,710 individuals being affected, averaging one displacement event per week and 43 people displaced per day.
The data, released by the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), shows a concerning upward trend. In the first semester of 2022, there were only 15 recorded displacement events with 1,439 displaced persons. This year, the number of events has increased by 73.3%, while the number of displaced individuals surged by 435.8% compared to the same period last year.
During the second semester of 2022, there were only 10 events recorded with a total of 8,163 displaced persons.
In June 2023 alone, five significant displacement events were reported in the states of Oaxaca, Michoacán, and Chihuahua, affecting more than 1,700 people. Chihuahua saw three events, displacing 625 people, while Oaxaca had a single event in El Tlacuache that left 300 inhabitants evicted due to a land conflict between this municipality and Santo Domingo Teojomulco. In Michoacán, a single event led to the displacement of 800 people.
The CMDPDH also highlighted that violence has intensified in geographic areas where this problem was previously uncommon. San Luis Potosí experienced its first case of mass displacement in May when dozens of families were forced to leave the town of La Fortaleza due to threats, attacks, homicides, and forced disappearances by organized crime groups in the region. Additionally, violence has escalated along the southern border with Guatemala.
One prominent example of this escalation is in Comalapa, Chiapas, where clashes between organized crime groups near the border forced at least 3,000 people from 12 communities to abandon their homes due to murders, house looting, and threats of forced recruitment of young individuals. In Santa Martha, Chenalhó, Chiapas, an attack on refugees by organized crime resulted in seven fatalities.
The CMDPDH is urging authorities to investigate these cases of violence thoroughly, provide security and protection measures to the displaced individuals, and work on sustainable solutions to address this escalating humanitarian crisis.
PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) - The crisis of internal displacement caused by violence continues to escalate in Mexico. Between January and June 2023, 26 events of . . .
