AN UNCERTAIN PATH – Justice for Crimes and Human Rights Violations against Migrants and Refugees in Mexico
Research Report – NOVEMBER 2015 :: 60 pages
Washington Office on Latin America [WOLA} and several migrant rights organizations [listed at bottom]
Authors: José Knippen, Clay Boggs, and Maureen Meyer |
Pdf: http://www.wola.org/sites/default/files/Uncertain%20Path.pdf

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KEY FINDINGS
:: THE SOUTHERN BORDER PROGRAM HAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED
MIGRATION ENFORCEMENT OPERATIONS, AS WELL AS MIGRANT DETENTIONS
AND DEPORTATIONS.
From July 2014 to June 2015, detentions of migrants rose 73 percent compared to the same period the year before; between July 2013 and June 2014, 97,245 migrants were detained, while 168,280 were detained between July 2014 and June 2015. Furthermore, government data indicates there has been an increase in migration enforcement operations; however, more reliable data is needed.

:: THIS INCREASED ENFORCEMENT HAS PROMPTED AN UPTICK IN HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST MIGRANTS.
Abuses have been documented in these migration operations, which are increasingly conducted in conjunction with security forces. Migrant shelters have documented kidnappings, extortions, robberies, and abuses throughout the country.

• GIVEN THIS CONTEXT, THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ITS CAPACITY TO PROTECT MIGRANTS HAVE FALLEN SHORT OF WHAT IS NEEDED.
For example, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados, COMAR) only has 15 protection officers in the entire country to ensure access to international protection for the more than 100,000 migrants detained during the course of a year. Moreover, COMAR’s budget did not increase in real terms from 2014 to 2015.

:: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT VICTIMS OF CRIMES AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS HAVE EFFECTIVE ACCESS TO JUSTICE, DESPITE THE CREATION OF NEW SPECIALIZED PROSECUTORS’ OFFICES.
There is a lack of conclusive data regarding justice for migrants in Mexico. The most detailed data are from the specialized prosecutor’s office in Oaxaca, which reports that, of the 383 complaints received over four years, only 96 resulted in a preliminary investigation being opened and only four resulted in sentences for the perpetrators. Additionally, of the 1,617 complaints of human rights violations against migrants that the National Human Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos, CNDH) received from December 1, 2012 to June 15, 2015, only four resulted in a formal recommendation issued to the institution implicated in the complaint.

:: THE SOUTHERN BORDER PROGRAM HAS FOCUSED ON ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES AND THIS FOCUS IS REFLECTED IN THE BUDGET OF THE NATIONAL MIGRATION INSTITUTE (INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE MIGRACIÓN, INM). INDEED, IN 2014 THE INM SPENT THE LARGEST BUDGET IN ITS HISTORY.
For its part, the United States government has offered the Mexican government political and financial support for migration enforcement, especially following the drastic increase in the number of unaccompanied minors and migrant families—primarily from Central America—arriving at the United States’ southwest border.

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Sponsoring Organizations:
CASA DEL MIGRANTE DE SALTILLO “FRONTERA CON JUSTICIA”, AC, in Saltillo, Coahuila, provides comprehensive humanitarian assistance as well as case documentation and legal services.

FUNDAR, CENTRO DE ANÁLISIS E INVESTIGACIÓN, AC is a civil society organization based in Mexico City, Mexico that works toward a substantive democracy.

ALBERGUE DE MIGRANTES “HERMANOS EL CAMINO,” in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, provides comprehensive humanitarian assistance to migrants in transit in Mexico.

LA 72, HOGAR—REFUGIO PARA PERSONAS MIGRANTES, is a Franciscan project dedicated to providing comprehensive assistance to migrants and refugees traveling through Tenosique, Tabasco in Mexico.

WOLA (WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA) is a leading research and advocacy organization that promotes human rights in the Americas.

LA RED SONORA is a network of three organizations based in Sonora, Mexico dedicated to defending and providing humanitarian assistance to migrants in Mexico.

Centro Comunitario de Atención al Migrante y Necesitado, in Altar, is a migrant shelter run by the local Nuestra Señora de Guadelupe Church.

Centro de Recursos para Migrantes, in Agua Prieta, works to provide humanitarian assistance
to migrants and document abuses.

Kino Border Initiative is an organization based in Nogales, Sonora and Nogales, Arizona that works in support of migrants and refugees in the United States and Mexico.

UN MUNDO, UNA NACIÓN, AC is an organization dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance and promoting the human rights of migrants in Apizaco, Tlaxcala.

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Publication
Migrant Detentions, and Rights Abuses, Increase in Mexico
MacArthur Foundation
January 6, 2016
A report from the Washington Office on Latin America and several migrant rights organizations shows that about 168,000 migrants were detained in Mexico from July 2014 to June 2015 – a 73 percent increase from the previous year that has brought with it rising crimes and abuses against migrants. The MacArthur-supported report attributes the increase to the Southern Border Protection program, which increased security at the country’s southern border and caused migrants to take less-traveled, more dangerous routes that expose them to assault, rape, extortion, and other crimes.