More than 1,800 migrants are missing in Mexico, out of a total of 110,000 people registered as not located in the North American country, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) denounced this Thursday.
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the organizations Foundation for Justice, the Bloco Latino-Americano de Migrações and the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants of El Progreso (Cofamipro) stressed that Mexico “is the country that makes the migrants”.
“In total, 1,801 foreigners of 55 different nationalities disappeared in Mexico, according to the database of the National Search Commission, registered until August 24, figures that are far from reflecting reality,” these organizations warned in a statement.
Last year, Mexico surpassed the record number of more than 100,000 missing people since records began, reflecting a persistent crisis related to organized crime violence.
Activists denounced that the violence also extends to migrants passing through Mexico, which registered an annual increase of more than 43% in the number of “people in an irregular situation” in 2022, when it detected 444,439 people.
The organizations pointed out that one in four migrants who disappear in Mexico are minors, based on data from the National Search Commission (CNB).
By country of origin, disappearances are led by migrants from Honduras, with 347 cases, followed by Guatemala (307), Colombia (169), El Salvador (147) and Nicaragua (76).
The state where the most migrants disappear is Tamaulipas, on the border with the United States, with 330 cases.
They are followed by Mexico City (219), Chiapas (117), Baja California (99) and Sonora (96).
Despite the data, the associations warned about failures in the CNB records, noting that other organizations report 2,059 missing migrants.
These NGOs also accused the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) of misclassifying the cases as kidnappings, after this organization denounced 70,000 migrants as victims of kidnapping and trafficking between 2011 and 2020.
“The tragedy of the constant disappearance of migrants in Mexico is more serious than what the official figures say, since we know that many of those who are registered with unknown nationality in the National Registry of Missing and Unlocated Persons are migrants, and many more they are never reported,” they stressed.
For this reason, they called for the creation of a Special Commission for the Investigation of Massacres and Disappearances of Migrants, as recommended by the United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearances, after the visit to Mexico in November 2021.
Source: TSF
