México y los exiliados que desplazó la violencia del nuevo siglo

A partir de la experiencia mexicana, este documento busca mostrar cómo el concepto de Desplazamiento Interno Forzado y su aplicación jurídica oculta muchas experiencias de migración forzada que se han producido en los albores del siglo XXI; particularmente, aquellas producidas en el marco de la violencia relacionada con el Crimen Organizado.

Published on January 25, 2024

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

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

Este documento de trabajo busca contribuir al debate en torno a la figura jurídica del Desplazamiento Interno Forzado, pues el término sólo reconoce la movilidad forzada que se produce al interior de un territorio nacional. A partir de la experiencia mexicana buscamos mostrar cómo el concepto de Desplazamiento Interno Forzado y su aplicación jurídica oculta muchas experiencias de migración forzada que se han producido en los albores del siglo XXI; particularmente, aquellas producidas en el marco de la violencia relacionada con el Crimen Organizado. Para lograr nuestro objetivo, retomamos la experiencia de un grupo de mexicanos desplazados que, ante la falta de política pública que les brindara protección y atención en México, se vieron obligados a huir del país, asumieron la identidad de exiliados en Estados Unidos y convirtieron esa experiencia en un motor de lucha y exigencia de justicia.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Desplazamiento interno forzado; migración forzada; política pública

Dra. Leticia Calderón Chelius: Profesora e investigadora del Instituto Mora. Miembro del sistema nacional de investigadores SNI, nivel 3. Presidenta del patronato de la asociación Sin Fronteras IAP. Coordinadora de la red de migrantologos.

Dra. May-ek Querales Mendoza: Profeso de asignatura en la FCPyS-UNAM. Candidata al sistema nacional de Investigadores SNI. Cofundadora del Grupo de Investigaciones en Antropología Social y Forense (GIASF). Hace investigación sobre la interacción entre la migración forzada y la desaparición de personas.

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

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE

Researching Internal Displacement publishes engaging and insightful short pieces of writing, artistic and research outputs, policy briefings and think pieces on internal displacement.

We welcome contributions from academics, practitioners, researchers, officials, artists, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, postgraduate students and people affected by internal displacement.

Contact the Editorial Team

How to Contribute

False Narratives and the Reality of History: The Deportation of Soviet Koreans in 1937

By German Kim, Ekaterina Pesegova (transl.) | Jun 4, 2026

This working paper highlights the relatively unknown deportation of Soviet Koreans, the first of several state deportations based on ethnicity carried out by the Soviet Union. The forced displacement, mainly to Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, was highly classified during Soviet times, leading to misunderstandings and subsequent misrepresentations of the event by Western scholars and the creation of multiple inaccurate narratives, including that of ethnic cleansing. By conducting an interdisciplinary study, the author critically analyses widespread misconceptions about the deportation of the Soviet Koreans and provides objective data on the issue and its long-lasting effects on the Soviet Koreans who survived deportation and their descendants.

Rethinking Planned Relocation as Social Protection In an Era of Increasing Climate Change Risks

By Tomy Ncube and Una Murray | Mar 12, 2026

As climate impacts intensify, planned relocation is increasingly deployed as an adaptation strategy, yet outcomes for relocated communities remain consistently adverse. This paper argues that these failures stem from the treatment of planned relocation as a short-term, projectised disaster response rather than as a long-term developmental intervention. Drawing on social protection theory, this paper reconceptualises planned relocation as a form of social assistance, capable of delivering durable solutions. It demonstrates that planned relocation inherently performs preventive, protective, promotive, and potentially transformative social protection functions by minimising future climate risks, providing non-contributory transfers such as land and housing, and enabling livelihood reconstruction. However, when implemented outside formal social protection systems, these functions may collapse, often resulting in impoverishment and protracted displacement.

Moving Towards Solutions: Addressing Loss and Damage from Protracted Displacement in Bangladesh

By Steve Miron, Dyuti Tasnuva Rifat, Tanjib Islam | Feb 25, 2026

Researching Internal Displacement is pleased to make this case study available as a stand-alone publication. Excerpted from a recent research and advocacy report by the Refugee Law Initiative, this case study of an urban informal settlement in Tongi, Bangladesh, examines the lived experience of loss and damage among people displaced in the context of climate change and left behind in climate action. Encouragingly, the case study also highlights a promising 'good practice' development intervention by the SAJIDA Foundation. In the case study, programme participants describe how Sajida’s multifaceted approach, which empowers women and girls, encourages positive behaviour change and prioritises psychosocial wellbeing across multiple programme workstreams, has helped restore agency, self-sufficiency and hope. SAJIDA’s programme shows how protracted displacement and associated losses and damages can be addressed and are not inevitable.