View of Mexico City

    Political situation Organised crime and migration

    The biggest threat to the country’s internal security is posed by organised crime. In parts of the country, armed groups that are controlled by the drug cartels have rendered the state monopoly on force null and void. The cartels also exert an influence on parts of the political apparatus, the private sector and the police.

    Each year the conflicts between government security forces and organised criminals, and between competing cartels, claim thousands of lives. Estimates indicate that in 2022 some 33,000 people were deliberately killed in Mexico. Violent “forced disappearances” also count as some of the worst human rights violations in the country. More than 110,000 people are classified as missing. Journalists who report on corruption, the drug trade, or the links between politicians and organised crime risk their lives in doing so.


    Increasing migration

    Mexico is primarily a transit country for migrants heading towards the US and also a destination country for a growing number of refugees and migrants from Central American and South American countries and from the Caribbean. Moreover, violent conflicts and human rights violations in various parts of Mexico itself are increasingly triggering internal movements of people. The tense situation along the country’s borders is a major political and humanitarian challenge for the Mexican government.

    As at: 04/10/2024