Mexico and the exiles displaced by the violence of the new century

Based on the Mexican experience, this paper seeks to show how the concept of internal displacement and its application hides many experiences of forced migration that have occurred at the beginning of the 21st century, particularly those produced within the framework of violence related to Organized Crime.

Published on January 25, 2024

Leticia Calderón Chelius and May-ek Querales | lanid, IDPs, Refugees, Violence, Americas (inc Caribbean)

Mexico. Protesta "Altar por lo que dejamos". 2012 © May-ek Querales Mendoza

This working paper aims to contribute to the discussion around the concept of internal displacement, which only recognizes forced mobility that occurs within a national territory. Based on the Mexican experience, we seek to show how the concept of internal displacement and its application hides many experiences of forced migration that have occurred at the beginning of the 21st century, particularly those produced within the framework of violence related to Organized Crime. To achieve our objective, we recap the experience of a group of Mexican displaced persons who were forced to flee the country. Due to the lack of public policy to provide them with protection and assistance in Mexico, they assumed the identity of exiles in the United States and converted that experience into a driving force of struggle and demand for justice.

KEYWORDS: Internal displacement; forced migration; public policy

Dr Leticia Calderón Chelius: Professor and researcher at Instituto Mora, Mexico. Member of the national researchers system (SNI), level 3. President of the patrons of Sin Fronteras IAP. Coordinator of “migrantologists” network.

Dr May-ek Querales Mendoza: Professor at FCPyS-UNAM, Mexico. Candidate to the national researchers system (SNI). Co-founder of the Research Group in Social and Forensic Anthropology (GIASF). Researches on the interaction between forced migration and forced disappearances.

Download RID Working Paper No. 39 (in Spanish Only)

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