May 28, 2021
Mexico
For decades, the United States of America used to be the principal destiny for migrants from Central America fleeing from violence. Nevertheless, since the year 2019, the number of refugee application increased by 125% in Mexico. One of the main reasons, why the application’s number increased is due to the uncertainty about the United States of American government response about migration and refugees. The principal countries of origin from where migrants are arriving in Mexico to seek asylum are Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Haiti and Cuba.
Asylum applications in Mexico are in charge of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) which receives the asylum seekers applications and processes them for 90 days. Notwithstanding, there have been several identified cases in which the applications took from six months to even a year. This Commission is also in charge of reporting the number of asylum applications, in the first quarter of 2021, there has been an increase of 31% in applications compared to the last year. In the case of the year 2021, the majority of asylum applications come from Hondurans, as a cause of violence, unemployment, and the hurricanes Eta and Iota.
In Mexico, eight out of ten persons applying for asylum acquire a positive resolution at the end of the process by COMAR. This is one of the reasons why each year the number of asylum applications has been exponentially increasing. Notwithstanding, it is fundamental to provide a protective response for refugees in the country as migration is highly vulnerable to diverse crimes such as threats, violations, and kidnappings. This protection response needs to include a social and cultural reception public policy for migrants and refugees focused on the principal necessities of people in mobility.
Alejandra Camacho holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico y de EstudiosSuperiores de Monterrey (TEC), and a Technical Diploma in Political Communication from the University of Cádiz (UCA). She is passionate about culture, humanitarian assistance, international development, and is able to communicate professionally in Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Twitter: _alejandracav