WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas

AP Photo/Felix Marquez

30 Oct 2017 | Press Release

2018 Budget for Mexico’s Unit for the Investigation of Crimes for Migrants: Insufficient to Guarantee Access to Justice for Migrants

In a press release, WOLA and six other organizations call on the Mexican Congress to increase funding for the Unit for the Investigation of Crimes for Migrants (Unidad de Investigación de Delitos para Personas Migrantes, UIDPM), which the Mexican Attorney General’s Office created in 2015 to investigate and prosecute crimes committed against migrants in the country. With the current proposed budget of only MXN$ 1 million outlined in Mexico’s draft federal budget for 2018, the UIDPM would not be able to carry out its mandate, and widespread impunity for crimes against migrants would persist.

In Mexico, the migrant population is particularly vulnerable to crimes and human rights violations: extortion, kidnapping, torture, sexual abuse and rape, homicide, robbery, and disappearances of migrants are all frequent occurrences. However, while conducting research for the report “Access to Justice for Migrants in Mexico,” the signatory organizations found that the UIDPM lacks the resources and personnel necessary to effectively investigate these crimes, which prevents concrete results from materializing.

We urge the Mexican Congress to increase funding for the UIDPM to MXN$ 16 million in order to show that Mexico has the will to guarantee access to justice for migrants and their families in a country where 99 percent of crimes against migrants end in impunity.

Read the Press Release