Migration crisis: Mexico treated 20,000 immigrants as refugees in 2 weeks

The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar) of the Mexican government has assisted some 20,000 undocumented immigrants on the country's southern border in the last two weeks, which is equivalent to about a fifth of the nearly 100,000 applications processed in the first eight months of the year.

Cinthia Pérez Trejo, general director of Comar, said in an interview that they hope to serve a total of 10,000 migrants this week in Tapachula, on the border of Mexico with Guatemala originating from Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador and, in a smaller quantity, from outside the continent.

This would be added to another 10,000 immigrants they received last week, so in these 15 days they add up to nearly of 20,000, a figure that if compared with the 99,881 applications that Comar received nationwide from January to August, reflects an interannual increase of close to 30% compared to 2022.

Pérez Trejo pointed out that the number of people is fluctuating and that they are subject to extraordinary pressures because applicants can arrive unexpectedly at the southern border.

“This attention center, the only objective What you have is that it is very important to receive this manifestation of asylum, that is, the first manifestation of wanting to request refuge in the country. For this reason, Mexico and Comar, through the Ministry of the Interior, and partners involved are paying attention,” he expressed.

The migratory wave does not subside in Mexico

The situation on the southern border reflects the “unprecedented increase in migrants in Central America and Mexico”, as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) warned this week.

Mexico is experiencing a new wave of migration, as shown by the suspension of freight trains due to the presence of thousands of migrants in cars and on the roads, demonstrations and stampedes on the southern border, camps on the Rio Grande on the border with the United States, and clashes with Mexican and American authorities.

Within this flow arrived Jordanis Mora Silva, an immigrant from Cuba who has been waiting for a month for his procedures in Tapachula and has joined the line to apply the intention of political asylum in Mexico so as not to return to their country of origin and continue to the United States.

This migrant, who was a farmer in his country, stated that he has paid more than $2,000 dollars for a flight from Cuba to Nicaragua, plus another $1,000 dollars for his land journey and another $1,000 dollars for his stay in Tapachula, where he seeks to start the route through Mexico to the United States.

“What is hitting us the most here are the documents. I have to cross forced, because here in Mexico I can't help my children, I can't take them out and bring them to me, which is my dream, so that they can improve themselves and be someone in life," he narrated.

Another of his compatriots, Jorge Fernández, stressed that they are exhausted because they have been waiting in line for three days, day and night, so he hopes that they will be able to enter soon to obtain their registration and begin their asylum process.

“We are quite exhausted, we have been sleeping night and day for three days, last night a lot of water fell on us, the people from Immigration see that it is delayed, I don't know what is happening with the procedure, we want a permit that this Government gives to to be in this country, because the objective is to be able to continue,” he assured.

Mexico promises attention

The Mexican official asserted that at this point in Tapachula they provide a registry for immigrants for an appointment at the second Comar office,where they provide documentation proving that they are already asylum seekers.

According to the Comar official, they have reinforced security at the office in Tapachula with about 20 elements of the National Guard, 8 state police and about 15 municipal police officers and she highlighted that they have carried out tours to verify the facilities.