The United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) in Mexico has been forced to close four of its migrant assistance offices and lay off more than 190 employees due to a significant reduction in its budget. These cuts are directly related to the global freeze on funding imposed by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
Giovanni Lepri, UNHCR representative in Mexico, explained that the closed offices include two in the southern part of the country, located in Chiapas, Palenque, and Tenosique, as well as the office in Guadalajara, Jalisco. The "severe crisis" facing the organization has led to drastic decisions, reducing its budget by 60%.
"Urgent alternatives will have to be sought," noted Julio López, director of the Scalabrini Foundation in Mexico, who emphasized that the migrant shelters administered by the Catholic Church have also seen a decrease in their programs and projects due to budget cuts.
In 2019, Mexico was one of the ten countries with the most asylum requests in the world, with nearly 80,000 applications registered by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR). The majority of applicants came from Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, and Venezuela.
The cessation of operations in key regions of Mexico has raised concerns among activists who provide support to migrants in the country, especially those stranded after the end of asylum programs in the United States. José María García, director of the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, expressed his concern about the impact of this situation on migrant communities.
The reduction in the response capacity of organizations that support migrants could have significant consequences in a context where thousands of people seek to reach the United States in search of better living conditions.
