44 percent of the migrants who pass through our country see Mexico as a destination country to start over.
The proportion of migrants who want to settle in Mexico increased by 24 percent between August and October last year, according to surveys conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the city of Tapachula, Chiapas.
In total, according to the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) of the IOM, 44 percent of the migrants see Mexico as a destination country.
“What we are seeing over time is that more and more people are interested in staying in Mexico or considering Mexico as their plan B, if they cannot enter the United States,” said Dana Graber Ladek, head of mission of the IOM, in an interview for MILENIO. “The figures of our DTM, that percentage of 44 percent is an increase of 24 percent that we have observed by the interviews and surveys in August (…) and with more time we will see more people interested in staying in Mexico”.
For the IOM, the highest percentage of migrants on the southern border who see Mexico as a destination country may be influenced by the intention to obtain some type of document that facilitates their mobility through the country.
In addition, it is conditioned by the southern location itself, which is the point of entry and where those who have just entered the country expect to have access to the labor market and other services.
Dana Graber Ladek recalled that 2023 closed with historical figures on the migration issue, but stressed that the main thing is to analyze the issues that force people to leave their countries.
The data from the Displacement Tracking Matrix show that the main needs of the migrants are legal assistance and employment, so the head of the IOM considered that the Mexican authorities should expedite the procedures for those foreigners who seek employment in the country.
“Facilitate that process precisely because there are many vacancies in Mexico, there are around 2 million vacancies, that does not mean that the migrant people who want to stay in Mexico necessarily have the qualifications for these vacancies,” he said. “But if there are a number of companies that want to work with migrant people, that is where we need to make that link between the interested people and the private sector, and that with the support of the authorities”.
Dana Graber highlighted that 27 percent of the foreigners who arrive in our country do not have documents, which makes them more vulnerable to being deported to their country of origin.
He added that for 2024 the main challenges of the federal government in migration matters are the high numbers of people who arrive in Mexico and address this issue in an electoral context.
“I think there are two main challenges for the government and one is the figures or the number of people who are arriving, obviously it is not a regional phenomenon, in fact it is a global phenomenon that we are seeing by the people who come from other continents from the other side of the world. “And two is the situation of the elections, obviously there are considerations in terms of the changes and how the issue can be addressed consistently in times of elections,” he said.
Source: Milenio
