MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Mexico
The requests for asylum in Mexico have increased exponentially over the past decade, reaching 86,000 in 2024.

Asylum seekers were just a fraction of the total number of migrants travelling through Mexico, many of whom aimed to reach the United States (US).

According to official statistics, between January and August 2024, there were 925,000 people on the move in the country.

Our activities in Mexico in 2024

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2024.

MSF IN MEXICO IN 2024 In 2024, Mexico hosted significant numbers of asylum seekers and people on the move. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provided medical care and mental health support through clinics across the country.
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, MSF activities in Mexico

In Tapachula and Coatzacoalcos, southern Mexico, we assisted new arrivals, as well as people stranded due to difficulties in obtaining transit permits. During the year, we adapted to the changing migration routes, and responded temporarily in the towns of Suchiate and Juchitán.

Due to an increase in migrant caravans, particularly following the US election, we expanded our assistance through mobile clinics in late 2024.

In Mexico City, MSF teams provided medical care, mental health support, and physiotherapy to survivors of extreme violence, both Mexican citizens and migrants, in a dedicated clinic. In addition, we scaled up our mobile clinic activities in informal camps.

At the northern border, after seven years of activities, we closed our project at Piedras Negras in September. We continued to work in Reynosa and Matamoros, offering basic healthcare and mental health support to migrants living in dedicated shelters while waiting to cross the border to apply for asylum in the US.

Our teams reported that the migrants they treated – especially women and children, who were arriving in increasing numbers – often had limited access to basic services, and spent long periods in unsanitary, hostile environments. These conditions worsened medical issues such as respiratory infections, skin diseases, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health problems linked to exposure to extreme violence.

IN 2024

 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mexico, Closure of the U.S. Asylum Process
Asylum seekers

MSF Denounces the Closure of the U.S. Asylum Process

Press Release 23 Jan 2025
 
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Migrants on the move in US Mexico Border
Migrants

Supporting People on the Move at the US-Mexico border

Latest News 27 Aug 2024
 
Onnie, MSF labrador retriever and Alicia de la Rosa MSF psychologist
Mental Health

Onnie, the Labrador that helps care for survivors of extreme violence and torture

Patient and Staff Stories 14 Apr 2023
 
MSF teams work at the Tamaulipas Migrant Institute (ITM)
Migrants

Mexico: Migrants exposed to violence cut off from healthcare

Patient and Staff Stories 16 Jan 2023
 
Mental Health

Increase in kidnappings and extreme violence against migrants on the southern border of Mexico

Latest News 5 Nov 2019
 
Mental Health

El Salvador not a safe country for refugees or asylum seekers

Press Release 25 Sep 2019