Denial and disdain for forced displacement

Admitting forced internal displacement exists would mean admitting the defeat of the government. Their refusal to accept the problem worsens an already desperate situation for displaced people. Therefore, the government’s position on internal displacement is not only lazy but malicious.

In the vacuum caused by the government’s inaction, many victims of forced displacement choose not to use other support networks because they do not want to risk worsening their already precarious situations. The data published in the Cristosal Report on Forced Displacement in El Salvador in 2017 reveals that 37.9% of the displaced persons registered by Cristosal and the Quetzalcoatl Foundation in 2017 were between 0 and 17 years old. The average displaced family included three family members.

A report by the Office for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) in 2017 indicated that at least 30% of displaced families included single mothers with children. Although both reports show apparent gender parity among the victims of this phenomenon, a good percentage of displaced women are the sole breadwinner for two minors. Therefore, they require assistance that should consider the need to care for children and adolescents.

When the Minister of Security and Justice, Mauricio Ramírez Landaverde, was asked about the lack of comprehensive care for displaced persons in the presentation of Cristosal’s report, he responded sarcastically by saying that the National Civil Police (PNC) cannot be expected to mix baby formula for displaced people. The comment is clearly misogynistic. The Minister considers it degrading for the honorable police to be forced to feed the children they cannot protect. Surely, if the PNC assumed that role, it would delegate it to lower-ranking agents.

Ramírez Landaverde’s comment is harsh, reflecting his total aversion to the idea of ​​involving the police in assistance work. He demonstrates the total disdain of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security for the victims of forced displacement. Not only is the Ministry unable to prevent the conditions that drive displacement, but once this has occurred, the Ministry is offended by the need to confront it.

Someone who has abandoned their heritage, community, and way of life due to threats from criminal groups, already faces a precarious economic situation. When they also have the responsibility of caring for children, the economic and psychological impact is much greater.

If the government cannot be trusted to prosecute threats or killings that force people to flee, how can we expect it to understand the need to truly protect and help victims? How can we expect the government to recognize these victims as people who experience trauma, face economic instability, are forced to drop out of school, and lose their community and heritage? In summary, how can we speak of comprehensive care for victims of internal displacement due to violence when the concept of ​​the humanity of the victims is laughable to those responsible for protecting them?