Forced Internal Displacement Triggered by Organised Crime in Central Mexico

Morna Macleod’s presentation analyses individual forced displacement in Central Mexico triggered by the current context of violence and organised crime. The presentation is based on ongoing research from an anthropological perspective. It draws on in-depth interviews, existing research and investigative journalism, and explores the triggers and impact that forced displacement is having on people from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Through the lens of diverse internally displaced persons (IDP), Macleod pieces together the dynamics of organised crime and (non)state actors operating locally in different areas of Central Mexico. She argues that organised crime and its combat by the state does not fall easily into existing UN categories of Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDP). By tracing individual IDP trajectories, it is possible to reach a clearer understanding of this arguably new modality of conflict in Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala). This differs from Latin America’s dictatorships in the Southern Cone and internal armed conflicts in Central America, though shares certain communalities with Colombia. In contrast to Colombia, where the government has recognised the issue through a law and reparation programs, in Mexico forced internal displacement triggered by violence remains an invisibilised, silenced and widespread human rights violation.