Half of the irregular migrants who arrive in Mexico declare leaving their country due to violence

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) published this Wednesday the report Impact of forced displacement on human mobilitya monitoring tool that allows identifying protection needs of the mobile population in Mexico, informing how responses are planned and supporting initiatives that strengthen protection spaces.

According to the UN agency, this and other civil society organizations carried out a total of 6,387 interviews in 2023, collecting information from 15,000 people of different nationalities in twenty cities in the country*.

Just over half of the people surveyed (51%) indicated violence, insecurity and threats as the main reasons why they have left their country of origin. More than half of the women mentioned having been victims of violence and direct threats as the main reason for fleeing.

By nationality, 71% of Haitians indicated fear due to the general situation of violence as the reason for leaving.

Furthermore, 69% of Hondurans reported having been victims of violence, threats and intimidation. Also, 67% of Colombians, 64% of Ecuadorians and 55% of Nicaraguans and 51% of Venezuelans referred to violence, insecurity and threats as the main causes of departure.

Need for international protection

The agency pointed out that these percentages reinforce the probability that many of the people who enter Mexico irregularly have international protection needs, so urges to strengthen asylum systems and fair and efficient procedures.

Furthermore, 66% of the people surveyed said that her life, safety or freedom would be in danger if she were returned to her country of originof which 54% mentioned that they would face direct threats.

The agency highlighted that it is necessary to identify when people on the move need international protection, otherwise, they would be violating the principle of non-refoulement.

On the other hand, 55% of the people surveyed traveled in families, 22% traveled in single-parent families.

In this regard, the agency noted that a third of the people surveyed had specific protection needs as they were single mothers or caregivers, survivors of abuse, people with chronic medical conditions, pregnant or lactating women, people with disabilities and older adults.

Risks when arriving in Mexico

The report details the risks to which people are exposed when arriving in Mexico and while transiting through the country.

Arriving, one in three families needs accommodation support and one in ten is at risk of spending the night outdoors. One in three people did not have any document issued by Mexican authorities, a situation that exacerbates vulnerability to robberies, extortion, and threats or physical intimidation.

Of the people surveyed, 63% said that their destination country was the United States, and 72% declared that they had made an appointment to appear in that country with the application. CBP One. 26% indicated that their final destination was Mexico.

Between June and December, 139 cases (207 people) of different nationalities deported to Mexico from the United States were detected.

* The interviews were carried out in Tapachula, Suchiate, Tenosique, Villahermosa (in the south); Ciudad Acuña, Ciudad Juárez, Matamoros, Mexicali, Monterrey, Nogales, Piedras Negras, Reynosa, Saltillo and Tijuana (in the north) and Mexico City, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, Querétaro, Celaya, León, Irapuato and San Luis Potosí (in the central region).