Seventy per cent of people displaced in Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico were forced to flee their homes by violence and the presence of criminal groups, finds new research from ProLAC. The violence includes extortion, child recruitment into such groups and territorial disputes.
Latin America: Violence driving forced displacement
ProLAC partners, a regional protection monitoring initiative led by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), warns that displacement in Latin America is no longer a series of isolated events—it has become a widespread and systemic outcome of persistent violence. The failure to establish effective legal frameworks to recognise and protect internally displaced people leaves thousands without access to the support and safeguards they urgently need.
“Families across the region are being forced from their homes, their livelihoods, and their communities by violence. Their lives are turned upside down as they try to seek safety, yet they are going unsupported and becoming increasingly invisible,” said Stine Paus, NRC’s regional director for Latin America.
“Governments across the region must urgently recognise internal displacement as a humanitarian and protection crisis. Without protective laws and services, families will continue to be displaced multiple times and denied their rights.”
While these situations do not constitute armed conflict in the strict legal sense, they fall under the definition of ‘other situations of violence’, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Despite this distinction, the level of humanitarian consequences generated is often no less severe.
“People flee to save their lives, yet displacement does not guarantee safety. Returning is not an option for most displaced families. Ninety-five per cent of families we surveyed told us they would face risks if they returned, and seven out of ten said they fear for their lives. We cannot simply ignore the extreme dangers people are facing,” said Paus.
Across the four countries surveyed, almost three-quarters of displaced people reported going into hiding, half of them restricted their movements, and a third lost their income. Despite this, two thirds have not reported their situation to any authority – often due to the absence of legal frameworks and widespread distrust in institutions.
Each country surveyed has specific risks and dangers, which are important to recognise. In Mexico, a quarter of those interviewed—while not displaced—were living in contexts of generalised violence primarily driven by organised criminal groups and reported experiences of extortion. Alarmingly, nearly half of the families in Mexico who reported extortion also indicated they had been victims of kidnapping.
In Ecuador, three out of ten displaced families surveyed were forced to flee twice. Many families reported being extorted some simultaneously by different groups. This forced them to flee and losing their jobs, businesses and ability to support themselves.
Children and adolescents are also at risk in Ecuador. Recruitment by criminal groups often begins in schools and community spaces, where young people face intimidation, threats, and even violence. These coercive tactics are frequently downplayed as mere ‘invitations’. For instance, a key informant in Ecuador said: “Even school-aged youth are targeted—like the boy who was ‘invited’ to work in mining. It wasn’t forced, but the fear of being drawn in remains”.
The threat of extortion is also present in Honduras: "Sometimes they just leave a note saying, ‘You have so many hours to leave or you have to pay me this amount every Friday’… This happens in many communities. In some places, people flee out of fear and leave everything behind,” said a woman working to support displaced people in Honduras.
In Guatemala, extortion by criminal groups is a significant concern, with four out of ten internally displaced people reported being affected by this threat. Across Guatemala and Honduras, two out of ten families reported being forced to flee more than once. These secondary displacements are largely driven by persistent insecurity and widespread violence, often linked to the continued presence of criminal groups.
The situation is further exacerbated by the lack of legal recognition for internally displaced people in all countries surveyed. In 2022, Honduras has enacted a law on internal displacement, however it lacks both regulation and funding for implementation. Guatemala has made initial progress, and some states in Mexico have adopted legal frameworks, but there is still no national law in place. Ecuador currently lacks any legal framework specifically addressing the rights and needs of internally displaced people.
“The legal vacuum has real consequences for displaced people. The lack of official recognition of internal displacement limits access to humanitarian assistance, justice, reparations, and durable solutions,” said Yann Cornic, DRC’s regional operations director.
“States must prioritise legal frameworks, ensure access to services regardless of documentation status, and protect children and youth from recruitment and exploitation.”
NRC and DRC call for inclusive policy development, community participation in implementation, and targeted protection and reparation for children and youth, recognising them as victims.
“We are working with displaced communities to document risks, support access to services, and advocate for durable solutions. But without political will, these efforts will fall short,” said Cornic.
Notes to editors:
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Data collection took place between 1 July and 31 October 2025 in four countries: Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
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A total of 821 households and 2,584 individuals were surveyed: Ecuador accounted for 508 households and 1,817 individuals; Guatemala for 119 households and 397 individuals; Honduras for 139 households and 285 individuals; and Mexico for 69 households and 143 individuals. In addition, 56 focus group discussions and in-depth interviews took place.
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Haiti and Colombia were excluded from the analysis due to methodological considerations. In the case of Haiti, ProLAC does not currently carry out protection monitoring activities in the country. Colombia, while facing a significant displacement situation, has a comparatively robust legal framework for assisting victims of displacement caused by armed conflict, which distinguishes it from the other contexts examined in this report.
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The survey captured protection threats linked to the actions of organised criminal groups, referred to as “criminal groups” in the data collection tool, including “maras” and “gangs” in Central American contexts. The report also uses the category “other situations of violence” to describe contexts of collective violence that fall below the threshold of armed conflict but still produce significant humanitarian consequences, according to the ICRC.
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Among monitored households, 59 per cent faced at least one protection threat—most commonly displacement, intimidation, or extortion. Of those affected, 38 per cent reported intimidation (including forced recruitment threats) and 56 per cent were internally displaced. 70 per cent of those internally displaced attributed it to the actions of criminal groups.
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95 per cent of families we surveyed told us they would face risks if they returned, and 66 per cent said they fear for their lives. Only 2 per cent of interviewed households consider going back to their places of origin, while 12 per cent are undecided and 11 per cent are considering seeking protection in another country.
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According to our monitoring data, 64 per cent of displaced households reported having hidden, 54 per cent restricted their daily movements, 31 per cent changed their daily habits, and 30 per cent stopped generating income.
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In Mexico, 27 per cent of people who reported living in contexts of widespread violence said they had been victims of extortion by organised criminal groups.
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In Ecuador, 32 per cent of displaced families surveyed were forced to flee twice. Many families reported being extorted, some simultaneously by different groups.
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In Guatemala, 39 per cent of displaced persons suffered extortion by criminal groups.
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Across Guatemala and Honduras, 21 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, reported being forced to flee more than once.
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To view the interactive dashboard with quantitative results from this period and other ProLAC Initiative data, visit: https://prolac.live/en/regional-interactive-dashboard/
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More than 101,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Ecuador due to the ongoing violence (IDMC).
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As of 2024, there were 390,000 internally displaced people in Mexico due to criminal violence, with an estimated 26,000 displaced only in 2024 (IDMC).
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As of 2024, in Guatemala there were around 573,000 internally displaced people - many of these displacements were due to the civil war, which ended in 1996 (IDMC).
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In Honduras, 101,000 people were internally displaced by 2024 (IDMC).
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
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NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no , +47 905 62 329
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Beatriz Ochoa, NRC’s regional head of advocacy for Latin America: beatriz.ochoa@nrc.no, +57 310 685-0870
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DRC Latin America: col.comunicaciones@drc.ngo y + 57 3142476451
About ProLAC: The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), with support from the European Union Humanitarian Aid, have created the ProLAC Initiative. This project offers a unified system for monitoring the protection risks faced by people forced to flee across Latin America. For more information, please visit https://prolac.live/en
ProLAC partners: In addition to DRC and NRC, the following organisations contributed to data collection for this report: Cáritas del Ecuador (on behalf of the EuroPana consortium); International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Mexico and Guatemala; Scalabrinian Mission in Ecuador; and Derechos Humanos Integrales en Acción (DHIA) in Mexico.