Central Americans reading information they have been given about the asylum process while the queue up for a shower in the migrant hostel in Palenque. Paul Miranda. Some rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n
Mexico is not
\ndoing \u201cnothing\u201d to curb northward migration, as U.S. President Donald Trump
\nclaims. <\/p>\n
In this Q&A, Crisis Group's Latin America & Caribbean Program
\nDirector Ivan Briscoe says Washington should help Mexico meet the challenge of
\nmigrant and refugee flows from Central America, which are now concentrated in
\nits troubled southern states.<\/p>\n
Poverty and violence in the Northern
\nTriangle of Central America (comprising El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras)
\nare forcing hundreds of thousands of Central Americans to flee each year to
\nMexico. Most are heading north due to deep
\neconomic insecurity.<\/p>\n
But 39.2 per cent of Central Americans surveyed in Mexico by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in December 2016 said they
\nleft their homes because they or their families were attacked, threatened,
\nextorted or pressured to join criminal gangs; many in such circumstances would
\nlikely qualify as refugees, entitled to international protection under
\napplicable laws.<\/p>\n
For the past two decades, the U.S. has
\nresponded to the movement of people from Mexico and Central America with ever
\nstronger enforcement of border controls: it was in 2000 that the U.S. arrested
\nthe largest ever number of undocumented migrants, close to two million, at its
\nsouthern boundary.<\/p>\n
But, as a U.S. political issue and
\nmatter of intense public concern, migration received a jolt in 2014 when a
\nsurge of unaccompanied minors arrived from Central America. <\/p>\n
During his
\npresidential campaign, U.S. President Donald Trump infamously said that Mexico
\nwas \u201csending\u201d to the U.S. people he described as \u201cbringing drugs\u201d, \u201cbringing crime\u201d
\nand \u201crapists\u201d. <\/p>\n
He promised to crack down on their entry into the U.S.,
\nincluding by building a wall on the border with Mexico and pressuring that
\ncountry to stem the northward flow. With his renewed anti-Mexican bombast in
\nearly April, he seeks to make good on those pledges.<\/p>\n
Mexico has seen an elevenfold increase in requests for refugee status from 2013 to 2017 (see graph).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tighter border control, and fear
\ninstilled by the Trump administration\u2019s rhetoric, have reduced the numbers of
\nCentral Americans reaching the Rio Grande \u2013 but swollen the numbers of those
\nstaying in Mexico. <\/p>\n
Mexico has seen an elevenfold increase in requests for
\nrefugee status from 2013 to 2017 (see graph), mainly filed by Central
\nAmericans. <\/p>\n
As our forthcoming report on southern
\nMexico makes clear, authorities in the Northern Triangle and Mexico are
\nstruggling to respond adequately to a growing humanitarian emergency.\n<\/p>\n
Faith-based and migrant defence organisations provide shelter and support on
\nthe road to people in transit, including many children, but they are
\nchronically underfunded. They also must contend with harassment from migratory
\nand security authorities, as well as criminal groups.<\/p>\n
Number of Refugee Requests Received and Refugee Status Granted in Mexico (2013-2017) Graph produced with information from the Mexican Commission for Assistance to Refugees (COMAR).<\/i><\/p>\n Contrary to Trump\u2019s irate tweets, Mexico The U.S. has supported these efforts The boundary is guarded by a dozen The plan stipulates that migration officials are to work \u201c Xenophobia is now spreading across Mexican President Enrique Pe\u00f1a Nieto Human rights groups Mexico has proceeded down this path in Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray has made it clear that his country\u2019s critical role in migration control is a bargaining chip in trade negotiations.<\/p>\n In particular, Mexican leaders see tactical benefits to the long-standing Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray This show of force could persuade the Central American migrants and refugees An array of criminals preys upon Central Members of Central American street gangs Some of those fleeing are kidnapped \u201c Supporting Mexico\u2019s efforts to provide Xenophobia is now spreading across Sensationalist media outlets and local politicians often depict the The U.S. government clearly is intent on U.S. and EU technical assistance and capacity-building support The U.S. and EU should intensify support for violence prevention and economic development in the southern Mexican locales where most Central Americans have arrived.<\/p>\n The U.S. and EU should intensify support They should urgently assist To spread the burden of the movement of Financial and logistical support to From a humanitarian perspective, these Supporting Mexico\u2019s efforts to provide greater protection _____<\/p>\n This interview was also published by Crisis Group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Central Americans reading information they have been given about the asylum process while the queue up for a shower in the migrant hostel in Palenque. Paul Miranda. Some rights reserved. Mexico is not doing \u201cnothing\u201d to curb northward migration, as U.S. President Donald Trump claims. In this Q&A, Crisis Group's Latin America & Caribbean Program…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1141\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/googmn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is Mexico doing about the crisis?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nhas bent to U.S. pressure to stifle the flow of Central Americans, in effect
\nbecoming an enforcer of U.S. border control. In every year since 2015, Mexico
\nhas deported more Central Americans than the U.S. has \u2013 and beefed up controls
\nat its own southern border.<\/p>\n
\nwith $24 million in equipment and training assistance for southern border
\ncontrol under the M\u00e9rida Initiative since 2007, as well as an additional $75
\nmillion in support for secure communications between agencies involved in
\nMexico\u2019s Southern Border Plan since 2014. <\/p>\n
\nnaval bases on rivers, and established security cordons that reach deep into
\nMexican territory. <\/p>\n
\nclosely with the military, as well as federal and state police, to enforce
\ncontrols. As a result, far fewer Central Americans are reaching the U.S.
\nborder, where arrests have dropped to levels unseen since 1971.<\/p>\n
\nsouthern Mexico as anger festers over the arrival of unprecedented numbers of
\nCentral Americans in towns insufficiently equipped by the state to cope with
\nthe influx.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nfavours continued involvement of the military in public security. He
\npromulgated an \u201cinternal security law\u201d in December 2017 that enables the
\nparticipation of the military in domestic security operations, although its
\nimplementation awaits the Supreme Court\u2019s approval. <\/p>\n
\nfiercely oppose the law. Increasing militarisation raises qualms about possible
\narbitrariness and human rights violations, and threatens to entrench a
\ncounterproductive \u201ciron fist\u201d style of policing similar to that in El Salvador
\nand Honduras.<\/p>\n
\ngood part because it fears losing its privileged status as a partner in
\ncommerce with the U.S. under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).<\/p>\n
\ncooperation with Washington on migration: that cooperation sits at the core of
\nthe government\u2019s efforts to handle President Trump\u2019s volatility and periodic
\nhostility.<\/p>\n
\nhas made it clear that his country\u2019s critical role in migration control is a
\nbargaining chip in trade negotiations. Trump\u2019s imposition of tariffs on steel,
\naluminium, washing machines and solar panels in March proves his own
\nwillingness to play hardball on trade. <\/p>\n
\nMexican government to comply more strongly with U.S. demands to toughen up on
\nundocumented migrants. The results of the 1 July presidential election in
\nMexico, however, might alter these transactional dynamics.<\/p>\nWhat is happening to Central Americans
\nin transit through Mexico?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nare increasingly bottled up in southern Mexico. In 2017, 70.7 per cent of
\nforeigners arrested by Mexican migratory authorities were detained in four of
\nMexico\u2019s seven southern states: Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco and Veracruz. The
\nMexican Commission of Assistance to Refugees (COMAR) is overwhelmed by requests
\nfor asylum. Private shelters and migratory stations (detention centres) are
\novercrowded.<\/p>\n
\nAmericans as they trek northward. MSF recounts that two thirds of those
\nsurveyed reported being victims of violence during their trip toward the U.S.;
\nnearly one third of women surveyed said they had been sexually abused during
\nthe journey.<\/p>\n
\n(maras<\/em>) now follow the flow of vulnerable people into Mexico to extort
\nand menace them, including by spying on and threatening migrant shelters,
\ncollaborating with Mexican organised crime. <\/p>\n
\nfor ransom; others are forced into sexual exploitation; and all are compelled
\nto seek shelter in places that are unprepared and often unwilling to receive
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\ngreater protection should also be in the interests of the U.S., in that it may
\nhelp address security concerns that drive people to leave Mexico\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nsouthern Mexico as anger festers over the arrival of unprecedented numbers of
\nCentral Americans in towns insufficiently equipped by the state to cope with
\nthe influx. <\/p>\n
\nbeleaguered migrants and refugees as members of the feared maras<\/em>, adding
\nstigmatisation and discrimination to their plight.<\/p>\nWhat should be done?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\nfortifying its own southern border. At the very least, it should compensate for
\nthe pressure that it creates on Mexico\u2019s institutions and resources to protect
\nthe vulnerable people who are being bottled up there by supporting Mexican and
\nNorthern Triangle authorities\u2019 efforts to strengthen oversight of security
\nagencies and state institutions working on migrant and refugee issues, above
\nall the COMAR. <\/p>\n
\nfor under-resourced Central American consulates on the migration route through
\nMexico would help ensure better protection for migrants and refugees,
\nespecially at a time of deepening anti-migrant prejudice in southern states.<\/p>\n
\nfor violence prevention and economic development in the southern Mexican
\nlocales where most Central Americans have arrived. <\/p>\n
\nthe three Northern Triangle countries and Mexico in developing new programs to
\nreintegrate deportees in their home countries and refugees abroad, including
\nthrough initiatives to give them access to health care, employment, education
\nand psychosocial support when necessary.<\/p>\n
\npeople, the U.S. and EU could also boost technical support to expand refugee
\nprocessing of Central Americans in neighbouring countries (mainly Belize and
\nCosta Rica), particularly minors, and ensure governments and NGOs in the region
\nprovide adequate shelter to those awaiting decisions.<\/p>\n
\nneighbouring countries such as Panama and Costa Rica, as well as to other Latin
\nAmerican countries that agree to take a share of refugees, would help cushion
\nthe impact of increasingly restrictive immigration policies in more traditional
\ndestinations.<\/p>\n
\nsteps would help Mexico cope responsibly with the increasing numbers of
\nvulnerable people who, despite its efforts in the south, continue to travel
\nover its borders. <\/p>\n
\nshould also be in the interests of the U.S., in that it may help address
\nsecurity concerns that drive people to leave Mexico and seek protection further
\nnorth.<\/p>\n