Humanitarian needs such as food, water, and sanitation services surge in southern Mexico as record numbers of asylum seekers continue arriving during September, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned.
Rafael Velásquez, Country Director for the IRC in Mexico, said: “Service providers and institutions in southern cities like Tapachula–where thousands of displaced people arrive every day–have been facing significant challenges to provide support for a long time. There are very limited resources while the demand for services skyrockets. Our IRC team in the South, through our different programs that include a Mobile Response Unit, have noticed not only an increase but a relevant shift in the needs that people report: they lack clean water, sanitation facilities, food, as well as access to reliable, prompt and accurate information that could enable them to make informed decisions and seek assistance when needed. In addition to the needs, local and displaced people near the border with Guatemala are exposed to dangers as they witness a rise in violent incidents, such as armed fighting between criminal groups”.
Along with extraordinary numbers of arrivals and record asylum applications (almost 100,000 as of August), IRC also seeing changes in displacement trends throughout the country. Mexico City has become a regular stop for those heading north, with shelters reporting that they have reached 600% of their capacity. In northern Mexico, the situation is more critical every day as well because asylum seekers are left stranded and desperate to find information on how to enter the United States safely.
“The effects of forced displacement from all over the world are being felt across Mexico. Still, funding and support from the international community are falling behind the scale that this crisis is reaching.”
Recent reports have informed about more than 350,000 people crossing the Darien Gap during 2023. In mid-September, the IRC alerted about urgent needs that asylum seekers arriving in Honduras from Darien were experiencing, after at least 55,000 were registered during the previous month.
Julio Rank Wright, Regional Vice President for Latin America at the IRC, added: “Migration and displacement from and throughout Latin America, including Mexico, is not a new phenomenon. Our region has a long history as a place of origin, transit, and destination. What we are seeing now is that the scale of the humanitarian and displacement crises affecting the region is unprecedented, posing challenges to deliver aid. At the IRC, we call on the international community to closely examine the humanitarian needs occurring throughout Mexico’s migration corridor and to consider them as part of a regional issue that demands a regional approach.”
