This story contains references to sexual violence.
After crossing South America, Central America, and even the Atlantic, hundreds of thousands of migrants, most of whom head toward the United States, fall into limbo in Mexico, where they are trapped between the violence of multiple armed actors, strategies of attrition, and a complex bureaucratic puzzle to request asylum.
Below, two coordinators with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) describe the challenges migrants face in Mexico along with testimonies of migrants collected in the towns of Tapachula and Coatzacolacos between October and November this year.
By Daniel Bruce and Ricardo Santiago, MSF coordinators in southern Mexico
In Tapachula, a crowd of migrants gather shortly after entering Mexico. Until recently, many used to arrive in this border city with Guatemala after crossing the nearby Suchiate River in an inner tube, but lately we don’t see many of them here. Migration routes in Mexico—a country of origin, transit, destination, and return—change all the time, but the constant flow of hundreds of thousands of people doesn’t diminish.
The flow of migrants—increasingly made up of single women or people accompanied by children— comes from Central American countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador; from the southern part of the continent, especially Venezuela; and to a lesser extent, from Colombia and Ecuador. People also come from Haiti and even from across the Atlantic: Senegal, Pakistan, China, and many other countries.
In Tapachula, many migrants initiate bureaucratic procedures before continuing their journey through the vast Mexican territory toward the US. This is where many of the migrant caravans that have increased in frequency and size in recent months form, although most eventually dissolve through coercion and deception before even reaching Mexico City, according to testimonies. The migrants walk together to try to reduce their exposure to violence from the multiple armed actors that operate on a journey of up to nearly 2,000 miles between Mexico’s southern and northern borders.
“If they rape her, at least she won’t get pregnant.”
Today I went to the mobile clinic on the roads of Coatzacoalcos with my 14-year-old daughter, and I asked that she receive a [contraceptive] subdermal implant. I wanted her to have the implant because if she were to be the victim of rape on this unsafe migration route, at least she would not get pregnant.
This route that we travel through southern Mexico is very dangerous. We have all suffered from assaults and violence. I am not the only mother who faces this reality. Many of us live in constant fear that our daughters and even ourselves could be victims of violence, which generates great stress. Insecurity and constant fear affect our mental health and that of our daughters. It keeps us in constant anxiety. We prefer to keep them close to protect them.
Many forms of violence along the route
The violence migrants face ranges from torture to sexual violence, kidnappings, robbery, threats, deprivation of water and food, burns and extortion. These have serious consequences for the physical and mental health of migrants—sometimes irreversible. Many people are already carrying a heavy backpack after fleeing their own countries due to conflict, violence, and exclusion, and then suffer these new attacks at points along the Latin American migration corridor, such as the dangerous Darién jungle in Panama.
A recent increase in migrant caravans in southern Mexico has led MSF to redouble mobile assistance. Between the end of September and the beginning of December, we have assisted 12 caravans—made up of some 10,000 people—in the states of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Veracruz, providing more than 1,900 medical consultations.
Among the people treated, there were patients with acute respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, and skin and gastrointestinal conditions, which are caused by the conditions they face, including the consumption of unsafe water, long walks, and high temperatures. We also saw cases of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes. Despite the fragility with which migrants complete their journeys, sometimes security forces close off access to suitable rest areas. This happened in November in La Venta, where hundreds of people were forced to stop on the side of a peripheral road, exposed to potential car accidents.
“The dog just wagged its tail and let me go.”
I left my country more than four months ago, leaving my wife and son behind. I did this after receiving death threats. I crossed the Darién jungle, helping other migrants along the way, and managed to reach the United States, where I was detained for several days. One night they told me I was going to leave and put me on a bus. I was happy until I saw the Mexican flag; I had been sent back.
In Tapachula, I joined a migrant caravan after facing multiple obstacles. During my journey, I was kidnapped, beaten, and robbed. My captors kept me tied up for more than 10 days, giving me a tortilla and water only once. I was tied to a pipe in a shack. A guard dog watched my movements. I spent hours watching him, remembering my dogs at home.
One day, his demeanor changed and he started to wag his tail while we kept our gaze fixed. He slowly came closer until he let me pet him. I managed to free my hands and, in the middle of the night, I decided to escape. I walked stealthily while watching him. When I had already gotten a little farther away, I started to run. The dog just wagged his tail and let me go without making the slightest noise. Thanks to him, I was able to escape. I found myself on train tracks, with nothing but a jacket that was given to me. I twisted my ankle and other migrants helped me with food.
I don't want to go to the United States. I'm just looking for a safe place, like Mexico City, where I can work and eventually reunite with my family. I miss my wife and son very much, and I haven't been able to communicate with them for more than 11 days. If I could, I would tell them that I love them and that I am alive because of them.
These migrant caravans are just the visible tip of the iceberg in an ocean of despair. They represent a small fraction of the more than 925,000 people who were reported to be in an irregular migratory situation between January and August 2024, according to data from the National Migration Institute. This is an increase of 131 percent compared to the same period last year, which is a sign that the worsening humanitarian crisis migrants face in Mexico goes far beyond the recent increase in caravans.
For us at MSF, it is very difficult to reach some people on the move, since many of them choose less-traveled routes that place them at greater risk of becoming victims of trafficking networks. We know that many do not have access to basic services and that in some cases they need urgent medical and psychological care.
Aside from the caravans, between August and November our teams carried out nearly 8,900 medical consultations in fixed clinics; improvised points of care or shelters in various locations in southern Mexico; raised awareness of health issues among 17,195 people; and handed out 25,000 aid kits. During these interventions, we provided psychological support to 1,083 patients for anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic or acute stress, and treated 37 survivors of extreme violence and 120 victims of sexual violence. We usually find a higher number of patients in very vulnerable condition outside the caravans, and the time duration we can dedicate to them is higher.
“My son deserves a living mother who can give him a better life”
One day, after my husband raped me in front of my 3-year-old son and beat me a lot, I couldn’t take it anymore. Until recently, I still had marks from the beatings he gave me. I took my son to my sister and left.
When I was in Guatemala, I still felt like he was coming after me. I didn’t want to expose my son to what I knew I would face and [that’s why] I left him with my sister, who has had to move twice, but they are safe.
My brother accompanied me. When we were at the US border, he crossed. I was waiting in Piedras Negras until he told me to cross. He has been in prison for two months. The [Mexican authorities] detained me and sent me back to Villa Hermosa. I begged the immigration authorities not to send me back to Honduras. I don't want to be killed.
I attempted to take my own life twice when I was in Honduras and was mistreated by my husband. If I am here it is because of my decision not to return to being the woman I was in Honduras.
While I was in the consultation and they were doing the HIV tests, I was shaking with fear thinking that I could be infected. The result was negative. My son deserves a living mother who can give him a better life.
The bureaucratic puzzle to obtain asylum
Migrants feel suffocated and desperate due to an extremely complex and lengthy process to request asylum, which is not exempt from arbitrary and sudden changes, both in Mexico and through the United States’ CBP One system [an app through which migrants are required to secure an appointment with border officials], as well as strategies of attrition by Mexican authorities that include forced returns—generally by bus—from the northern and central areas of the country to southern towns such as Oluta, Villahermosa, or Tuxtla.
These strategies not only fail to stop migration, despite their emphasis on containing the flow, but also leave migrants without protection and exposed to the violence of organized crime and other armed actors. We urge the authorities in Mexico, the US, and along the Latin American migration corridor to provide safe migration routes and to reinforce the basic services available, including health care and spaces where people can rest with dignity.
Upon the end of a disastrous 2024 that was violent and inhumane for people on the move, we hope that in 2025 the new governments of Mexico, the US, and other countries in the region will respect the right to asylum and human rights, and recognize that there is a huge humanitarian crisis that will not disappear. Only this recognition will lead to improving the medical and humanitarian conditions experienced by people who flee into the unknown, leaving everything behind in search of well-being and safety.
I have had to learn to value even the smallest of things”
I am sick and I use crutches to be able to walk. My experience with medical care has been a journey full of ups and downs. In the jungle, I was rescued after seven days of being lost and [almost] dying. At the MSF camp on my way out of the jungle, a psychologist named Daniel helped me overcome the trauma of everything I went through, and I will be eternally grateful to him. In Panama, I encountered the reality of poverty and lack of resources. I had to learn to value even the smallest of things, like a can of tuna.
In Honduras, my daughter became seriously ill and the medical care at the hospital was excellent. In Mexico, however, I have encountered discrimination and lack of opportunities. People tell me that some nationalities are receiving more benefits, but the reality is that many of us are struggling to survive. Despite all the difficulties, I have learned to be strong and to fight for my family. I have learned to value health and good people. I have learned to be a warrior.
“If people knew the reality, half of them wouldn’t come”
I have two sons, 16 and 19 years old. We left Colombia because of persecution and to avoid problems with the Colombian guerrillas. We crossed the jungle. I saw more than 500 people [migrating] in three days.
We thought that the worst thing would be the jungle: the rivers, the animals, the hunger. Here the danger is the people. It is easy [for them] to rob, rape, and even kill women. They see everything. It seems like they know who is coming. They wanted my children to join the guerrillas and you can’t say no to them.
I am looking for security, to be calm and to give my family peace. To work and have health and stability, so that the boys can continue studying.
This is like an animal documentary. We are the wildebeest; the goats and lions [armed actors] are on the sides hunting the prey. The reality is very harsh. If people knew, half of them wouldn't come.
*Names have been changed for privacy.
