Invisible Victims: Migrants Crossing Mexico into The United States A challenge proposed by Amnesty International
Every year, tens of thousands of women, men and children are ill-treated, abducted or raped as they travel through Mexico without legal permission as irregular migrants. The vast majority are headed for the US border in the hope of new life far from the crippling poverty they are fleeing. Their journey is one of the most dangerous in the world. Arbitrary detention and extortion by public officials are common. Many simply disappear without trace, kidnapped and killed, or robbed, assaulted and thrown off speeding trains. For those who survive the extreme insecurity and dangers of the journey through Mexico, reaching the US border brings its own hazards. Increased US immigration enforcement in certain border areas has pushed undocumented immigrants to use particularly dangerous routes through the US desert; hundreds of people die each year as a result. The devastating abuses that take place against migrants is a cross border issue, involving both the United States and Mexican societies. But currently, their deaths, like their lives, remain largely hidden from view. For the families back home, there is little hope of ever finding out what happened. How could technology, applications and digital services make the invisible visible with regard to abuses committed against migrants, and be used to support both migrants and their networks in a safe way, helping mitigate the risks and reduce the number of people who die each year?
The Impact: Thousands of people would be directly supported by tools that facilitate information sharing and data and documentation collection on human rights abuses against migrants along this journey. We are strongly committed to tools that can be taken as foundation concepts to networks of on-the-ground organizations, as well as rights holders themselves, to invite their participation and expertise in a robust collaborative process of scrutiny, refinement and development. When and if a product is ready for market it will be because we have tested, trained and piloted widely with these networks and will likely continue in beta before scaling up to support other regions and contexts where this tool could play a role globally.
Resource List
• In hostile terrain: human rights violations in immigration enforcement in the us southwest o http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/ai_inhostileterrain_032312_singles.pdf • Annual report: Mexico 2013 o http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/annual-report-mexico-2013 • Criminals threaten migrants’ rights activists • People on the move: surviving the world’s most dangerous journey • Mexico: authorities should protect migrants at risk in the state of Mexico • Invisible victims: migrants on the move in Mexico • Mexico: urgent action needed to save lives of irregular migrants • Protect migrants from kidnapping • Safety concerns for migrants’ shelter grow • Death threat for defending migrants • Irregular migrants in Mexico: ten urgent measures to save lives • Migrants in Mexico: Invisible Victims of Abuse o http://blog.amnestyusa.org/americas/migrants-in-mexico-invisible-victims-of-abuse/ |