• JANUARY: The number of people seeking asylum in Mexico reached 5,936 in January of this year following an upward trend that started last spring, mostly linked to people arriving at the southern border with Guatemala, per new data released by Mexican authorities.
• COMPARISON: According to recent numbers, Honduras represented 39% of total asylum seekers during January. The number is very much in line with the record-setting numbers of asylum requests that Mexico received in 2019, which totaled 70,302.
• CHIAPAS: “The trend of (months) last year, showed 65% of the requests for refugee status were made in Chiapas and remained the same this past January”, said Andrés Ramírez Silva, head of Mexico’s refugee agency (COMAR) in a message via Twitter.
• CONCERN: Since mid-2019, Mexico has adopted a tougher stance towards irregular migration from Central America, with many advocates showing concern about the inadequate capacity to process asylum requests. Last month, Mexico detained an 800 migrant caravan in Chiapas.
