The Regional Forced Internal Displacement Monitoring System in the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) is composed of state and non-state institutions that works to document and disseminate information about the scope and causes of internal displacement as a result of violence in the NTCA, or El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. The Monitoring System's investigations focus on identifying state lapses and omissions related to the protection of human rights. The organization references existing international instruments to define forced displacement and make recommendations for combatting the phenomenon.
Maria's story
Maria smiles as she remembers how her father was a respected community leader. He didn't work for the government or a community organization, but he gained the respect of his community by helping his neighbors. During emergencies he was always there; he was the one who would rush people to the hospital when they got sick. One day, Maria's father and other community leaders learned that a gang had arrived and was starting to take control of the area. Maria's father and the other leaders expressed their disapproval. In response, the gang threatened Maria's father. Soon after Maria's father filed a formal complaint with the police, the gang killed him.
After the murder, gang members continued to threaten and surveil Maria and her family. Fearing more violence, the family was forced to flee their community, leaving behind their home, business, and way of life. The change was earth-shattering for the family. They were forced to separate: some went to another city in El Salvador, while others fled to a rural community in Honduras. Now they live in the shadows fearing that, if their location becomes known, they will suffer more violence.
Maria and her family did not report the threats. After all, Maria's father's original report was ignored. The investigation into his death hasn't reached any conclusion either. For Maria and her family – a family without a father, separated from each other and flung violently from their home – they never received the protection they needed to feel safe in their own country.
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Forced internal displacement is a social phenomenon that has at its root a lack of state protection for victims of widespread violence. The three countries of the NTCA have some of the highest rates of violence globally, nearing levels found in war zones. Nevertheless, the states in the region have proven themselves incapable or unwilling to create institutional mechanisms that guarantee the human rights and basic security of their populations. This structural abandonment of victims of widespread violence has created an environment of grave insecurity in the region. Faced with this lack of protection, individuals, families and entire communities are forced to move, becoming internally displaced persons.
Even though it is estimated that there are 678,000 internally displaced in the region (IDMC, 2018), it is a phenomenon that only Honduras has officially recognized. In El Salvador only the Supreme Court, not the Legislative or Executive Branches, has recognized the phenomenon, while in Guatemala there is a total lack of official recognition of forced displacement. Civil society organizations in all three countries have attempted to fill the void left by theses states by providing victims with much-needed protections. However, there are concrete steps that states can take in order to recognize the phenomenon, protect the victims, and create an environment that guarantees human rights.
Victimizers
- Gangs: Territorial control by organized crime is one of the principal factors that contributes to displacement. It is important to note that, in the majority of cases where a gang member is the aggressor, the state is incapable of protecting victims.
- State Agents: In Guatemala and Honduras, state agents allow business groups to violently seize territory for megaprojects. In El Salvador, the National Civil Police and the Armed Forces harass youth who are suspected of belonging to gangs in the name of public security.
- Businesses: In Guatemala and Honduras, there are cases of entire families and communities being displaced as a result of megaprojects.
"The aggressors linked to the state are connected to other actors that form part of a structured criminal network: it is a coalition of interests, state actors don't always act alone. The judge, the Public Ministry, and the police are a part of it." Expert from Guatemala.
"The Salvadoran National Civil Police generates displacement when police harassment forces families to flee. This occurs in communities that are clearly marked as gang zones. The most vulnerable populations are young men and adolescents, the police criminalize them a lot." Representative of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH) El Salvador
In interviews and data collected by the observatory, one can distinguish a connection between internal displacement and irregular migration. This is something that will require more attention and investigation before making definitive conclusions about the link between both phenomenon. For the moment, we have identified two possibilities concerning the relationship between displacement and migration: that it can be an alternative solution to widespread violence, and that returnee migrants are at risk of internal displacement.
In interviews of individuals from a migrant caravan in April 2019 by the Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala, 60% of the reasons given for migrating were related to violence. These cases deserve more study to determine if, similar to displacement, a lack of national protection systems for victims of violence contributes to migration.
Recomendations
Northern Triangle:
- Evaluate the impact of public security policies in the region.
- Study and analyze the connection between internal displacement and migration in the three countries.
- Implement policies focused on territorial recovery, especially in places with groups at the margin of the law, like gangs and organized crime.
- Create and implement specific, comprehensive public policies, laws and programs that provide attention and protection to victims of displacement.
- Build an updated, systematized registry of data on forced internal displacement.
- Establish monitoring systems in communities with higher incidences of displacement.
El Salvador:
- That the Executive Branch recognize the phenomenon in a public manner.
- Approve a specialized law that attends to victims of forced displacement, like the draft laws currently being debated in the Legislative Assembly.
- Create programs and protection protocols focused on durable solutions.
Guatemala:
- Make the phenomenon visible at the state level.
- Create a policy for victim protection.
Honduras:
- Create protections for victims and assume responsibility at the state level.
- Approve an essential law for the protection of internally displaced people.
Additional Resources:
- Annual Report 2018 from the Monitoring System (Spanish)
- Interactive data about displacement in El Salvador and Honduras (Spanish)
- Infographic on forced displacement (Regional) (Spanish)
- Infographic on forced displacement (El Salvador)
- Infographic on the migrant caravan