Mexico: Year-end report 2016

In 2016 an estimated 500,000 people entered Mexico irregularly, mainly originating from Central America but also including some 27,000 people from Haiti. While many sought to reach the United States of America, a growing number of people from the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala) sought asylum in Mexico. This has put additional pressure on Mexico’s already-strained asylum system and limited shelter infrastructure, in particular along its southern border.

Population trends

In 2016, Mexico received 8,781 asylum applications, of which almost 92 per cent were from the Northern Triangle of Central America countries. This was the highest number of asylum applications recorded since the 1980s.