This chapter focuses on categorisation of people as desplazdos undertaken by the Colombian state. The state’s categorisation is the most powerful of all, since it determines the terms of inclusion and exclusion and since it has the necessary means to impose the categories and put them in use. The chapter provides a short background to how the category desplazado came into existence. It then looks at the politicised process of registering the desplazados. It examines who is perceived a deserving victim, and how some displaced adapt their stories to better meet the requirements of an ideal victim. This in turn affects the meta-narratives about conflict and social reality in Colombia. Finally, the chapter shows how the sheer numbers of the displaced and the length of displacement, and the bureaucratic apparatus result in lengthy waiting times and contribute to the depersonalisation of the displaced.