Drug trafficking and territorial conflicts have unleashed a wave of violence in Chiapas, causing the inhabitants to decide to leave all their assets
The Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center (Frayba) has revealed alarming data on forced displacement in several municipalities of the state of Chiapas.
According to the reports, between 2010 and 2021, approximately 14,476 people have been displaced in the Chiapas region, with Chalchihuitán, Chenalhó, Aldama, San Andrés Duraznal and Pantelhó being the most affected municipalities.
Just for the first half of 2023, the Mexican Commission for the Defense of Human Rights counted some 3,243 people displaced in this entity exclusively due to the issue of violence by organized crime.
The phenomenon of migration of the Chiapas people has set off the alarms of the experts, who attribute this to religious, political, territorial conflicts and, significantly, to violence linked to organized crime.
Violence and worsening in Chiapas have reached critical levels due to the presence of organized crime groups. Carmen Villa Chávez, director of the Chiapas Citizen Observatory, highlights that, according to the Mexican Commission for the Defense of Human Rights, more than three thousand people were displaced in the first half of 2023 due to violence by organized crime.
Currently, the settlers have organized to stay united and thus be able to defend themselves from the extortionists, so they have set up camps in municipalities of Comitán, Socoltenango and Tzimol, where locals brought them food, water, blankets and clothes.
Although the crimes of drug dealing and human trafficking have not been formally denounced in 2023, insecurity persists in the area, especially affecting the indigenous population.
Given this situation, the call of the Frayba is urgent, asking the federal and state authorities, as well as the Senate of the Republic, to address the humanitarian crisis in Chiapas and legislate on Internal Forced Displacement (DFI).
Source: Debate
