Most of the time, the discussion of Mexico and immigration centers on migrants crossing its shared northern border with the U.S. Yet it’s worth noting that the country’s lengthy southern border is also a gateway for migrants. An estimated 500,000 Central Americans cross the border yearly and either settle in Mexico or attempt trek hundreds of miles to the U.S. Despite the weakened global economy, abuses by Mexican security officers and drug-related violence, the numbers of migrants entering Mexico illegally continues to grow.
A report released this week by Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) highlighted the dangers faced by Central American migrants. 9758 of them have been kidnapped between September and February according to the NHRC, often by drug gangs though sometimes corrupt officials are involved. The study added that the average ransom was about $2500 per person and that 70% of those abducted were Hondurans.
The NHRC report portrayed a chilling picture of how no migrant is safe from the hands of kidnappers:
"The kidnapping of migrants has become a constant practice, on a worrying scale, generally unpunished and with characteristics of extreme cruelty," said the commission's head, Jose Luis Soberanes, on presenting the report…Image- boston.com (“Illegal immigrants travel in a train heading north, on their way to the U.S. in Arriaga, southern Mexico, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.)
Fifty nine minors and 157 women were among those abducted, including four pregnant women, of which two were killed, it said.
Many were also raped, the report said, underlining the lack of official figures on the issue and slamming the "inefficiency" of the justice system in preventing and investigating the cases.
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, ABS-CBN News, AP
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