MSF update: Migrants in the Latin American corridor are exposed to multiple forms of violence

Migrants in the Latin American corridor are exposed to multiple forms of violence, ranging from torture to sexual violence, robbery, kidnapping and extortion, which have serious consequences on their physical and mental health, sometimes irreversible. MSF teams witness these impacts on our patients. Between January 2024 and February 2025, we treated nearly 3,000 survivors of sexual violence and we provided more than 20,000 individual consultations for mental health across our projects of the migration route.

MSF runs 11 migration projects across Latin America, including 2 launched in March. Between Jan 2024 and Feb 2025 our teams provided more than 84,000 primary healthcare consultations.

Many people were already carrying a heavy burden: they had fled their own countries due to conflict, violence or exclusion, and then suffered new attacks at points along the Latin American migration corridor such as, but not exclusively, the dangerous Darién jungle. Although all people are in a vulnerable situation, the impacts are deeper among groups such as women and children. In recent years we have seen more and more families headed by women traveling alone or with minors.

The restrictive migration policy introduced by the US Administration, including the termination of the main avenues to seek asylum and the suspension of other programs, have caused stress, disorder and panic in the migrant population and left hundreds of thousands in a legal and humanitarian limbo in Mexico and other parts of the Central American route. We also fear that the absence of legal, dignified and safe mechanisms put very vulnerable people at risk of taking even more dangerous routes and leave them at the mercy of human trafficking networks.

We are concerned about the tightening of immigration policies in the US and how this could have a dangerous domino effect on other countries in the Latin American migration corridor, from Mexico to the south of the continent, resulting in more pronounced policies of containment and forced returns of migrants, restrictions on the right to asylum, residence and other basic rights.

"I left because Venezuela is very dangerous. In Venezuela I was an artisan, I painted ceramic figurines. That went bankrupt because of the current situation. Then my 14-year-old son was killed, and the murderer keeps threatening us to get us to pay him money. So we decided to leave. I crossed the jungle despite my diabetes and other illnesses, and it was a very hard experience. You don’t expect anything to happen to you and I fell at the end of the jungle. I broke my leg. On the route I have not had access to the medicines or the diet I need. We have family waiting for us in Mexico to continue the route. My dream is to get to the United States, work and save to buy a house for my brothers who stayed in Venezuela. We have heard about the deportations, but we are going with all the faith in the world. I don't want to go back to Venezuela, I want to go on living". - Yurbi Elena, 52, left Venezuela for the United States

MSF is currently running eleven migration projects across Latin America, including two news ones launched in March. The changing dynamics of the routes used by people on the move across Mexico and other parts of the continent constantly force MSF to adapt activities and prioritize the places where there is a more urgent need to address the consequences of the high levels of violence and the adversities that migrants face during their journey. Today we are also providing assistance to returnees and deportees.

The freezing and sharp reduction of US humanitarian assistance funds can have a significant impact in Latin America, particularly for people seeking asylum, as most migration related programs in this region were not considered lifesaving. The decrease of funds, coupled with the tightening of the migration policy, can lead to both the emergence of gaps, particularly in the protection of vulnerable groups across Mexico and other Central American countries, as well as to the lack of visibility of the plight of these communities due to fear of stigmatization.

Compared to the average of preceding years, the first quarter of 2025 has not seen a sharp increase in deportations from the US and the announced mass deportations have not yet taken place. However, the dehumanizing narrative spread by the US government and the conditions in which some people have been deported to other countries, seemingly with breaches of international conventions and human rights standards, are both appalling and a setback for the protection of vulnerable communities. In some cases, people have been reportedly expelled without due process, with no chance to seek asylum or appeal their case, and in some instances, sent to countries where they have no legal status or ties. These actions leave individuals stranded in dangerous conditions, exposing them to violence, persecution, and severe humanitarian risks.

People who voluntarily return to their countries face the same and new dangers along the migration route: robberies, extortion, violence, among others. Physical and mental health impacts remain lasting consequences. “When I left my country in mid-2024, so much happened—many traumas. The journey north was hard, but going back is also difficult. In both cases, we suffered a lot of xenophobia”, said Luis while looking at a map of routes to go back to Venezuela.