Chapter Eight: Latin America

New refugees: – b – b The security situation in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro deteriorated further in 2017 due to increased clashes between armed criminal gangs and the government’s security forces. There were 1,032 homicides in 2017 resulting from police interventions – i.e., those resulting from clashes and gunfights occurring in relation to a police operation – representing a 23% rise compared to 2016 and equating to 8.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. This trend formed part of the general rise in intentional homicides in Rio that has taken place since 2013, when organised criminal groups (OCGs) started to challenge the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) – the bases established by the police to stabilise and enforce state control over previously violent areas – for control of the favelas (as the slums are called in Brazil). The homicide rate resulting from these interventions, sometimes supported by the army, more than doubled between 2013 (when criminals groups stepped up their attacks) and 2017, jumping from 3.3 per 100,000 inhabitants to 8.4 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2017.