Alert 503% rise in migrant smuggling

The National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) reported that 11,338 migrants were victims of the crime of trafficking and 523 of kidnapping in Mexico, during 2021.

Of the more than 11,000 people who were victims of trafficking, the National Institute of Migration (INM) is the one that reports the most cases with 990, this figure shows an increase of 503% compared to the figures for 2020, where 164 were reported. traffic victims.

While in terms of kidnappings, the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) is the agency that reports the most cases with 478, although the CNDH expressed that it is not possible to calculate an increase or reduction in the figures, since the agency did not show specific data. in 2020. However, in the case of the INM, which showed 31 cases in 2021, an increase of 675% was registered, compared to the four cases of kidnappings of foreigners that occurred in 2020.

According to these figures, the CNDH reported that 64.5% of the total number of people trafficked during 2021 were men and 35.5% women.

In the kidnappings, it was reported that 143 people (29.9%) were men and 85 (17.7%) were women, and it was not possible to know the gender of the rest.

On the other hand, according to the data compiled in the “Special Report of the CNDH on the Situation of Trafficking and Kidnapping to the Harm of Migrants of 2021” showed that the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) has 494 folders of investigation for the crime of migrant smuggling and seven for kidnapping foreigners; In addition, it has 13,378 passive subjects who are victims of trafficking and 87, in terms of kidnapping.

These figures, when compared with the 137 investigation folders in which criminal action was brought for the crime of human trafficking in 2020, show an increase of 260.5 percent.

In kidnapping cases, the increase in investigation folders is 700%, since it went from zero to seven.

Based on the figures, the CNDH affirmed that they show that, despite the institutional efforts to safeguard the human rights of migrants, there persists a vulnerability derived from the conditions that exist in the countries of origin of the victims and the difficulty for authorities to document crimes committed by organized crime against migrants.

Also that the judicialization of the cases does not mean an increase in the recognition of the quality of victims.

More withholdings by the INM

According to the Migration Policy, Registration and Identity Unit of the Ministry of the Interior (Segob), during 2021, 307,679 events of foreigners who were presented or channeled to INM facilities due to not proving their immigration status in the country were reported.

The Segob mentioned that an average of seven out of 10 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who crossed into the United States irregularly through the northern border used a guide or coyote for an average payment of $4,559.

According to the calculations of the authorities, the traffic earns approximately 615 million dollars to human traffickers in 2019.

In the report, the National Human Rights Commission urged the INM to adopt measures to facilitate the entry and transit of migrants on a regular basis, so that they do not resort to clandestine routes that put their security at risk.