New York, NY, October 17, 2024 — This week, I had the opportunity to visit IRC’s staff and clients in Mexico and at its Southern border who are experiencing first-hand the mass migration that continues to ripple through the Americas.
Mexico is now one of the countries with the highest number of pending asylum claims in the world, with a 30% increase as of the end of 2023 compared to the previous year - a testament to its increasing role as a potential safe destination for hundreds of thousands in the region. At the same time, Mexico faces its own challenges, including growing climate displacement and violence; an IRC and partner survey from a few weeks ago revealed that over 40% of people surveyed had a member of their household that had experienced violence in the country, including kidnapping, extortion, and gender-based violence. Along with providing protection and violence prevention, livelihood support and information services, and facilitating economic and social integration for asylum seekers, the IRC is also supporting the Mexican government in managing significant displacement within and outside of its borders.
While in Mexico City, I met Paula and her son from Venezuela. They joined Resilient Futures, an IRC economic recovery and development program, which allowed Paula to strengthen her business as part of her integration process in the country. She owns a beauty salon and is investing her time and resources into improving her family’s lives in their new home. Paula told me that after working with IRC she was reminded that, “just because we are migrants doesn’t mean we are not allowed to dream.”
In Tapachula, which is located in the southern state of Chiapas, the poorest in Mexico, I was able to visit one of our four Frontline Mobile Response Units providing services to the estimated 2.5 million people crossing into Mexico every year. The mobile unit provides hydration, WiFi, reliable information to combat misinformation spread by smugglers, psychological first aid, cash assistance and referrals to humanitarian support to people passing through the most frequented and dangerous crossings into the country. Client centered needs assessments have shown an urgent need for water, food and information.
Some important themes came through all the conversations, with clients, government officials and staff. People fleeing from danger are determined to escape. Legal routes to safety are much preferred, even when they involve delay, and their absence empowers the people smugglers. Labor demand in the US is a critical factor in explaining people's movements. Mexico has the opportunity to integrate many of those on the move through well targeted and effective employment programs.
IRC sees an answer in asylum systems that are legal, orderly, and fair, paired with regional solutions across the arc of the crisis. Part and parcel of this approach is starting at the root cause of the crisis, avoiding a myopic focus on the last mile of migrants’ journeys towards national borders. Latin America and the Caribbean are home to 20 million forcibly displaced individuals, of whom the vast majority will stay in the region. They need our support.