Posted: 28 April 2010
The Mexican authorities must act to halt the appalling abuse of migrants who are preyed on by criminal gangs, while public officials turn a blind eye or even play an active part in kidnappings, rape and murder, Amnesty International said in a new report released today.
“Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico”, documents the alarming levels of abuse faced by the tens of thousands of Central American irregular migrants that every year attempt to reach the US by crossing Mexico.
Mexico Researcher at Amnesty International, Rupert Knox, said:
“Migrants in Mexico are facing a major human rights crisis, with virtually no access to justice and the constant fear of reprisals and deportation if they complain of abuses”
“Persistent failure by the authorities to tackle the abuses carried out against irregular migrants, has made the journey through Mexico one of the most dangerous in the world.”
The kidnapping of migrants, mainly for ransom, reached new heights in 2009, with the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) reporting that nearly 10,000 were abducted over six months. It also reached new lows, with almost half of the interviewed victims asserting that public officials were involved in their kidnap.
An estimated six out of ten migrant women and girls experience sexual violence, allegedly prompting some people smugglers to routinely demand that women receive contraceptive injections ahead of the journey, to avoid unwanted pregnancy as a result of rape.
On 23 January 2010, armed police stopped a freight train carrying over 100 migrants in Chiapas State, southern Mexico.
Veronica (not her real name) said that Federal Police forced her and the other migrants to leave the train and lie face down on the ground. She says that the police then stole their belongings and threatened to kill them unless they continued their journey by foot along the railway.
After walking for hours, the group was assaulted by armed men who raped Veronica and killed at least one other migrant.
Two suspects were later detained after a local activist helped the migrants file a complaint but no action was taken against the Federal Police, despite migrants identifying two officers as having been involved.
Rupert Knox, said:
“Mexico has a responsibility to prevent and punish abuses, whether these are committed by criminal gangs or public officials.”
The report calls for immediate action to ensure migrants have access to complaint mechanisms regardless of their status and that effective investigations take place.
The vast majority of migrants travelling through Mexico are Central Americans headed for the US border in search of work.
Ruben Figueroa, a Mexican human rights defender who provides shelter and food for migrants, told Amnesty International:
“They leave their homes because of the extreme poverty where they come from, the journey north is a nightmare for them but they do it for the families they have left behind.”
The Mexican government has often stated its commitment to protect the rights of migrants, whatever their legal status and is a leading promoter of migrants’ rights on the international stage.
Despite some welcome measures in recent years, for example better protection of the rights of unaccompanied children and criminalisation of people trafficking, this has often in reality failed to prevent and punish abuses against migrants as the report details.
Read the full report: 'Invisible victims - Migrants on the move in Mexico' (PDF)
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