• BACKLOG Mexico must improve its lengthy asylum procedures in order to effectively address the record number of applications and at the same time reduce the current backlog of 33,752 cases pending to be decided, says Filippo Grandi, the top United Nation’s official for refugees.
• RECORD With Honduran nationals leading by far, Mexico reported that at least 48,258 people filed asylum claims during the current calendar year in part due to the hardening of US procedures under the Trump Administration. In 2018, Mexico saw a total 29,631 people filing asylum claims.
•BUREAUCRACY “It’s a procedure that was established for smaller numbers than now. We have to work together with the Government, with the COMAR (Mexico’s refugee agency) to accelerate and improve this procedure so that refugees recognized as such can integrate more quickly”, said Grandi.
• LIMITATIONS Mexico’s refugee agency (COMAR) needs a budget of at least USD 5 million in 2020 to deal with ballooning asylum applications projected to reach 80k in 2019, per its head, Andres Ramírez. Yet, the current budget proposal for 2020 is just USD 1.3 million
