UN IDP expert Jimenez-Damary concludes Mexico visit
UN Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons (IDPs) Cecilia Jimenez-Damary will conclude her visit to Mexico today with a press conference in Mexico City.
Jimenez-Damary visited Mexico City and the states of Chihuahua, Guerrero and Chiapas to review Mexico’s IDP policies and meet with government officials, humanitarian organizations, affected communities and IDPs themselves.
In July, at least 3,396 people across Chiapas were forced to flee due to rampant violent crime and battles between drug cartels, migrant traffickers and Mexican authorities. In the same month, Chiapas’ residents blocked a section of the Pan-American Highway and demanded that the Mexican government create a military base in the area in order to protect them. A second group of residents detained three immigration agents and demanded that authorities establish a police presence to combat insecurity and migrant traffickers.
Jimenez-Damary’s conference will likely blame the lack of a large and effective police and military presence in Chiapas and other states for their high number of IDPs. The crime surge in cities like Tijuana will likely prevent the Mexican government from redeploying soldiers and police to protect Mexico’s rural areas until the surge subsides. IDPs will keep increasing in rural Mexico for the foreseeable future unless the Mexican army and police are given more men and resources.
