Mexico Fails to Offer Migrants Asylum, Amnesty International Reports

An Amnesty International survey of 385 Central American migrants suggests that Mexican authorities routinely force people to return to dangerous conditions in their home countries, the rights group said Tuesday.

Seventy-five percent of the migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador who were interviewed said they had not been informed by Mexican immigration agents about their right to seek asylum in Mexico.

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Relatively few people used to ask for asylum in Mexico, but high rates of violence in Honduras and El Salvador, and political and economic disruption in Venezuela, have led to large increases in asylum applications over the last five years.

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Mexican authorities say Central American migrants often decide not to pursue asylum claims after they learn how long it will take. The process can last for months, and sometimes years.

Mexico allows consuls from most Central American migrants’ home countries to meet with them, to help ensure their rights are protected. {snip}

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