Beyond Border Security, Keeping Pace with Migrants, Refugees, and Climate Change Mexico is no longer just a transit country for migrants, it has become a destination country for those seeking refuge from their home country. According to Refugee International, in 2021 Mexico saw over 70 percent increase in asylum cases. In addition, Mexico is seeing a growing number of internally displaced Mexicans due to religion, human rights violations, natural disasters, and clashes between rival gangs. While this has been an issue since the 1970s, it’s only in 2019 that it's been getting the official attention of the Mexican government, human rights organizations as well as international organizations. Over the past few years, our screens have been inundated with pictures of thousands of people from Central America seeking entry into the United States. These migrants often referred to as the Migrant Caravan, have traveled through perilous crossings in different countries before reaching southern Mexico to gain entry into the United States. They are often fleeing violence, gang-related or organized crime as well as climate disasters, which are not well documented. For example, countries like Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador are still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricanes Etna and Lota which affected over 6 million people, and some of them are still recovering from their devastation. The Groundswell report by the World Bank states that the Latin American region could be impacted by 10.6 million climate migrants by 2050. Mexico City, known for its exciting street food and dynamic arts scene, is facing its biggest threat ever climate change. The city is slowly sinking 12 inches annually at different rates due to a lack of groundwater as the city lies on what used to be lakes and is now on a mixture of clay and volcanic soil. The densely populated city is growing rapidly with an estimated population of over 20,000,000 million people and is slated to reach 30,000,000 million by 2030. And is already facing many climate dilemmas such as shortage of water, rising temperatures, droughts, and heavy rainfall causing flooding in many parts of the city due to its geographic location. What are the implications for these affected countries and in particular Mexico? With an estimated over 300,000 Mexicans displaced, a number of them will be moving to areas with limited resources or already dealing with access to basic services such as potable water. They will need housing, access to education, and medical services. We cannot talk about migrants and Internally Displaced People (IDP) without mentioning women and children, and transgender people who are not safe at home and not safe running; there is a need to start tackling protection issues for vulnerable populations who might be constantly on the move due to threats of violence.
As climate-related disasters increase, there is an urgent need to support countries to help mitigate these impacts, especially on people. Mexico as a middle-income country presents a unique opportunity to be a test case for how other countries in the Northern Triangle can deal with climate change-related disasters compounded by violence, internal displacement, and migration. It would be a huge win if the Mexican Government adopted a law to protect IDPs, but in the meantime, two out of thirty-two States in Mexico (Chiapas and Guerrero) already have a law in place because they have been dealing with this issue for several years; in addition, the Mexican Government could improve its national data collection and tracking system to be more accountable to displaced people while finding innovative ways for them to generate income; actionable steps that would address climate change disasters throughout the country and how to mitigate to prevent displacements. The impact of displaced people is huge and may not be quantifiable at times because those displaced no longer have sustainable ways of generating income, which constitutes a loss on the overall economic development of a country. This offers a glimpse into an array of critical issues of migration, refugee movements, and displacements in Mexico that won't normally make the evening news, but the compounding effects merit more discussion and concrete solutions that need to be tackled now as a global humanity. There is no quick solution to any of these growing problems in Mexico but what we do now that we are aware of them merits our foremost attention. Written by: Marsha Michel - Liaison Coordinator for the Climate Change Working Group for Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict (WCAPS)