Tapachula, Chis. The exodus of migrants arriving in Mexico through the southern border registered an increase of almost 30 percent this year compared to last year, according to figures from the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Comar).
About 100,000 foreigners sought asylum from the Mexican government between January and August; More than half did so through Comar’s office in Tapachula, a city on the Guatemalan border.
The above represents a new record number against more than 77 thousand documented in the same period last year and more than 76 thousand also in that period in 2021 during the covid pandemic -19, the year in which the historic number of more than 129 thousand asylum seekers in the country.
Haiti, Cuba and Honduras remain the countries with the most applicants for three years; This year they account for 70 percent of requests.
The influx is observed not only in the immigration offices that are full every day of foreigners who want to start or continue their procedures, but also in public squares that are used as dormitories and markets with carts full of groceries.
Also in banks and businesses where remittances are paid, where the lines are hundreds of undocumented immigrants waiting to collect money sent to them by friends or family so they can continue their journey to the United States United States.
Mariana González, from Cuba, said that in order to start her process as an asylum seeker at the Comar office, she stood in line for more than 12 hours. “I arrived at six in the morning and left at seven at night; “There are a lot of people,” he said in an interview.
A month later he arrived in Tapachula with several family members and friends, whom he hoped to obtain a document before continuing his journey north.
“We will wait for them to grant us asylum; We don’t want to risk deportation, we had a hard time getting here. We are not in a hurry, we prefer to wait,” explained the 25-year-old Caribbean woman.
Luis GarcÃa Villagrán, from the AC Human Dignification Center, estimates that at the current trend this year a new record number will be imposed that may exceed 150 thousand asylum seekers.
“There is a traffic jam in Panama and about 400,000 people are stranded in Central America. At least half will arrive in Mexico by the end of this year,” warned the human rights defender.
He pointed out that not everyone is looking for regularization; Many continue on their own or fall prey to traffickers through various routes, including sea.
The activist, who has been dealing with the phenomenon of migration for more than a decade, considers the current policy of the federal government on the matter a failure, seeking orderly and safe migration.
“No one is working and no one is moving. It is urgent that the government’s attention to this crisis be reconsidered,” emphasized GarcÃa Villagrán.
