Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported this Tuesday a 70% year-on-year increase in cases of sexual violence against migrants in Tamaulipasa northeastern Mexican state bordering the United States.
The international organization stated in a statement that in the cities of Reynosa and Matamoros, the main crossings from northeastern Mexico to Texas, in the last quarter of 2023 there was a 70% increase in consultations for sexual violence compared to the third quarter of the year. same year.
In addition, last January alone they attended to 28 cases, a figure that exceeds the record for each month of 2023.
The association also pointed out that attacks by organized crime against migrants persist, reporting 395 patients who were victims of violence and 129 consultations from people who survived a kidnapping between the last quarter of 2023 and last January in Reynosa and Matamoros.
Although the attacks have been concentrated in Tamaulipas, MSF also witnessed “the impacts of violence and sexual violence” in Piedras Negras, a city in the state of Coahuila that borders Eagle Pass, Texas, where in 2023 it attended to a total of 95 cases of violence. sexual assault and 177 people who were victims of assault.
Among the attacks, they have documented kidnappings, injuries, beatings, threats and forced disappearance of family members due to acts of violence during the migratory journey and at the border.
The events “have a serious impact on people’s physical and emotional health,” warned Ryan Ginter, MSF project coordinator in Piedras Negras.
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“The consequences range from bruises and physical trauma, unwanted pregnancies and infections of sexually transmitted diseases to triggering symptoms of anxiety, depression, acute stress and post-traumatic stress,” he explained.
The attacks are recorded while the pressure from the United States on Mexico has increased because, in addition to the record levels of migration, with more than 300,000 irregular crossings last December on the common border, this 2024 the presidential elections of both countries coincide.
MSF questioned whether the United States is forcing migrants to wait in “hostile cities” on Mexico’s northern border while they await a CBP One app appointment with U.S. authorities.
“This tool has proven to be insufficient to manage the legal entry processes of populations seeking well-being and security in that country,” said Ginter.