On this page, you will find:
To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Mexico LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Mexico country of origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Mexico COI page.
Refugee protection
Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Mexico.
The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Mexico is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.
Mexico signed the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol in 2000. In addition, Mexico is party to the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees. The 1984 declaration goes beyond the definition of “refugee” that appears in the 1951 Geneva Convention – ‘persons who have fled their countries because their lives, safety, or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.’
Mexico’s law concerning refugees and asylum was not drafted until 2009. It was passed by Mexico’s senate and the legislature’s lower chamber in 2010, and signed into law on December 26, 2011.
Mexico’s law, written with technical support from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), incorporates the broader definition of “refugee” found in the Cartagena Declaration. Thus, Mexico’s Law on Refugees, Complementary Protection, and Political Asylum grants protection for people whose lives have been threatened by generalized violence but would not be considered refugees under the 1951 Convention. It also considers gender as grounds for persecution, incorporates the principle of non-refoulement, and includes provisions regarding non-discrimination.
Moreover, if an individual does not qualify for refugee status under this extended definition, the Ministry of the Interior may grant complementary protection, which halts the return of an individual to a territory of another county where his or her life would be in danger of being subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
Legal aid organisations
Through the use of legal services, community legal empowerment, and policy advocacy, AAMX empowers refugees and asylum seekers to demand their own rights. AAMX works to improve refugee integration through the Hospitality Route initiative, creating communities across the country where refugees can access safety and rights instead of facing arrest, detention, and deportation.
To improve access to asylum for thousands of refugees, Asylum Access Mexico operates in seven different locations in the country: Acayucan, Veracruz; Mexico City; Monterrey, Nuevo León; Palenque, Chiapas; Tijuana, Baja California; Tenosique, Tabasco; and Villahermosa, Tabasco.
Near the Guatemalan border, AAMX offers free legal services, representing clients from Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Ghana, among other nationalities. The AAMX team supports them to navigate the refugee status determination process and to access their rights.
Ciudad de México
Tel: +52 (55) 5596 2541
Email: info@probono.mx
Nonprofit association dedicated to bringing lawyers who wish to contribute pro bono work to vulnerable population groups and civil organization who require legal counsel or guidance.
Address: Enrique Rébsamen No. 415 Int. 11, Col. Narvarte Poniente, Del. Benito Juárez, C.P. 03020, Ciudad de México.
Tel: (55) 7583 9623
Email: info@appleseedmexico.org
Appleseed Mexico is a civil association, non-profit or political or religious affiliation, that strengthens civil society organizations, through free legal advice and legal research on issues of social relevance, as well as providing legal responses to emergency situations, with the ultimate aim of improving care for vulnerable groups.
Address: Varsovia No. 1 col. Juárez, 06500 Alcaldía Cuauhtémoc, Ciudad de México A una calle del Ángel de la Independencia
Tel: (55) 5514 0475 , (55) 5525 4459
Email: croman@fbma.org.mx
La Barra Mexicana, the Bar Association (BMA) as part of civil society and sensitive to the social problems that Mexico was experiencing, constituted in October 2000 a Foundation aimed at providing free guidance and legal support to the most vulnerable sectors of Mexican society.
Address: (Mexico) Blvd. Durango 300-A, Fracc. Lomas del Guadiana Durango. Dgo. 34110 / (USA) 750 Otay Lakes Road, Suite 2111 Chula Vista, CA. 91910
Tel: (USA) +1 (619) 888 8745 / (MEX) +52 (618) 364 4213 (only Whatsapp)
Email: aimberton@hotmail.com
Contact Person: Alberto Imberton
- Provide relevant and up-to-date information educational and informative;
- Actively participate in the discussion and drafting of laws and immigration policies;
- Legal advice and legal representation for immigrants in immigration processes.
The UNHCR Field Office in Ciudad Juárez
The UNHCR Field Office in Tijuana
The UNHCR Field Unit in Aguascalientes
The UNHCR Field Unit in Guadalajara
The UNHCR Field Unit in Mexicali
The UNHCR Field Unit in Palenque
The UNHCR Field Unit in Saltillo
The UNHCR Field Unit in Tenosique
The UNHCR Representative in Mexico
The UNHCR Sub-Office in Tuxtla
UNHCR supports the Government of Mexico’s efforts to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee their home countries. We work to ensure that people fleeing violence and persecution are able to receive protection and apply for asylum. UNHCR also promotes durable solutions that foster local integration through close collaboration with partners and host communities.
Organisations providing other support to refugees
TAPACHULA
Casa del Migrante en Tapachula – Albergue Belén, Avenida Hidalgo s/n, Colonia San Antonio Cahoacán, Apartado 87. Tapachula, Chis. C.P. 27900
Tel: +52 ( 962) 62 54 812
Fax: +52 (962) 62 67 770
Email: cdelmigrante@yahoo.com
TIJUANA
Facebook
Casa del Migrante en Tijuana, A.C. Calle Galileo 239 Col. Postal, Tijuana, B.C. 22350
Tel: +52 (66) 43 82 76 85or +52 (66) 46 82 51 80
Email: cdelmigrante@yahoo.com
NUEVO LAREDO
Facebook
Calle Francisco I. Madero, # 350 Colonia Victoria, C.P. 38030, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Tel: +52 (867) 71 45 611
E-mail: casamigrantenl@yahoo.com
Opening Hours Migrant Reception: Monday-Sunday 16:00-21:30
Opening Hours Office: Monday-Saturday 09:30-13:00
Casa del Migrante welcomes people that come from the south of Mexico and Central America, or anybody that is going up to the US. They welcome Mexican deportees or repatriates that come from the US. Though they do not work directly with refugees they also have welcomed refugees in the past.
En la Casa del Migrante le damos acogida a personas que vienen desde el sur de México y América Central, o a las personas que están viajando hacia Estados Unidos. También le damos acogida a mexicanos deportados o repatriados que vienen desde Estados Unidos. Si bien no trabajamos con refugiados directamente hemos recibido con asistencia humanitaria a refugiados en el pasado.
Address: Aquiles Serdan 101, Yalalag, 68050 Oaxaca, México
Tel: 951 572 6706
Email: caminosoaxaca@gmail.com
Caminos is a civil society organization, committed to guiding and supporting migrants and their families. Their work focuses on the accompaniment, search, orientation, as well as the analysis and research of the migratory phenomenon.
Website
Address: 4a. Avenida Sur No. 6, Col. Centro entre Central y 2a Calle Poniente CP 30700, Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico
Tel: +52 (962) 642 5098
Email: direccion@cdhfraymatias.org or comunicacion@cdhfraymatias.org
Fray Matías de Córdoba (CDH Fray Matías) Center for Human Rights is a non-profit civil organisation, independent of any government or political ideology or religious creed, founded in 1994. The organization aims to promote, disseminate and defend the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees through actions such as strategic litigation, political and social advocacy, and capacitation in migration issues. In this sense, the organization works to establish legal precedents capable of generating changes in the public policies and the legislation. The CDH Fray Matías provides free advice, support and legal monitoring for cases of human rights violations against migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) has resources for women seeking asylum on account of domestic violence, including country conditions information on DV in Honduras and an expert declaration on DV in Honduras.
CGRS provide information packets for over 100 countries and with 4-6 weeks’ notice are happy to produce new packets for specific cases concerning gender, LGBT, or children’s issues. In addition to those packets, there are general expert declarations regarding DV available in Mexico, violence against indigenous women in Mexico, DV in Guatemala, DV in Honduras, DV in El Salvador, violence against women generally in El Salvador, one on FGC generally, and one on incest.
Address: Callejón de Guadalupe Victoria s/n Centro Oaxaca. C.P 68000 Oaxaca México
Tel: (951)516 9004,044 (951)310 0375
Email: comioaxaca.centro@gmail.com
COMI is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the situation of Central American migrants, within the Mexican context, by offering support in solidarity with each person, in their passage through Oaxaca, Mexico.
Since its foundation by the Jesuits in 1988, the Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center (Center Prodh) has worked to defend, promote and increase respect for human rights in Mexico. Center Prodh’s mission is to promote and defend the human rights of victims, especially those in situations of vulnerability and poverty, and to build a more just, equitable, and democratic society that fully respects human dignity.
Centro PRODH is useful as a resource point for contact regarding human rights conditions in Mexico. They provide a gateway into information about human rights in Mexico and relevant signposting to other links that might be necessary upon inquiry. They produce general reports on Mexico and human rights.
Address: Pantaleón Domínguez 35, Barrio de Santa Lucia, C.P. 29250 San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México.
Tel: +52 1 967 185 5888
This is a grassroots Maya organization that raises awareness on issues of migration, promoting small-scale development, advancing human rights, and proposing alternatives to migration.
Address: Tehuantepec #142, Col. Roma Sur, Del. Cuauhtémoc, C.P. 06760, México, D.F.
Tel: +52(55) 5564 2582
Email: info@cmdpdh.org
The CMDPDH is a civil society organization that comprehensively accompanies victims of serious human rights violations and contributes to the eradication of the causes that produce them, through the design and execution of legal, psychosocial, research, advocacy and dissemination strategies, to build a just and egalitarian society.
Address: Periférico Sur 3469, Col. San Jerónimo Lídice, Delegación Magdalena Contreras, C.P. 10200, México D.F
Tel: +52 (55) 56 81 81 25 or +52 (55) 54 90 74 00
Toll-free Tel: 01 80 07 15 20 00
Email: cenadeh@cndh.org.mx
The National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) has its origin in article 102(B) of the Mexican Constitution. CNDH’s main objective is the protection, promotion, study and diffusion of human rights. The activities of CNDH consist mainly of the following:
- The reception of complaints of presumed violations to human rights
- The preparation of public, non-binding recommendations and complaints against governmental authorities
- The promotion of compliance with human rights law in Mexico
- The preparation of programs with governmental entities in order to promote the compliance of international human rights treaties and conventions
- To propose to the President the subscription of international human rights treaties and conventions
- The preparation and execution of preventive human rights programs
A department deals specifically with giving help and legal advice to migrants (quinta visitaduría): the Dirección General Adjunta de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de los Migrantes. The contact details above are for this department, whilst more general information about the Human Rights National Commission can be found on their website.
Español: La Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos (CNDH), tiene su fundamento en el apartado B del artículo 102 de la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. El objetivo esencial de este organismo es la protección, observación, promoción, estudio y divulgación de los Derechos Humanos previstos por el orden jurídico mexicano. Lo anterior mediante:
- La recepción de quejas de presuntas violaciones a Derechos Humanos.
- La formulación de recomendaciones públicas autónomas, no vinculatorias y denuncias y quejas ante las autoridades respectivas.
- El impulso de la observancia de los Derechos Humanos en el país.
- La formulación de programas y acciones en coordinación con las dependencias competentes para impulsar el cumplimiento de tratados, convenciones y acuerdos internacionales signados y ratificados por México en materia de Derechos Humanos.
- Proponer al Ejecutivo Federal la suscripción de convenios o acuerdos internacionales en materia de Derechos Humanos.
- Elaborar y ejecutar programas preventivos en materia de Derechos Humanos.
Un departamento se ocupa específicamente de dar ayuda y asesoramiento jurídico a las quinta visitaduría: el Dirección General Adjunta de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos Humanos de los Migrantes. Los detalles del contacto antedichos están para este departamento, mientras que la información de carácter general sobre la Comisión nacional de los derechos humanos se puede encontrar en su página web.
Address: Montes Urales 770, Lomas de Chapultepec, Lomas de Chapultepec V Sección, Miguel Hidalgo, CP 11000 Ciudad de Méxicoán, 04010 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Tel: +52 55 5536 3922
Email: iommexico@iom.int
IOM Mexico was established as a Representation of the International Organization for Migration in 2004 through an agreement between the Mexican State and IOM. One year later, IOM Mexico started activities in Tapachula, Chiapas through its Southern Border Field Office.
IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.
Currently, IOM Mexico works in the following nine areas:
Emergencies and migrant assistance operations.
Protection and assistance
Migration management and capacity building
Health and education
Data and knowledge management
Labour Migration and Private Sector Partnerships
Human trafficking and smuggling
Migration narratives
Migration, environment and climate change.
Tel: (52 55) 5211.4153 and 5658.7384
Tel Legal Clinic: (52 55) 9154.8990 and 9131.7512
Tel USA: (208) 753.7041
Email: contacto@imumi.org
The Institute for Women in Migration, AC (IMUMI) is a civil society organization that promotes the rights of women in migration within the Mexican context, whether they live in communities of origin, are in transit or reside in Mexico or the United States.
Address: Estacion Nueva, 86901 Tenosique, Tabasco, Mexico (Migrant shelter)
Tel: +52 934 342 1111
Address: Calle Francisco I. Madero, # 350 Colonia Victoria, C.P. 38030, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Tel: +52 (867) 71 45 611
E-mail: casamigrantenl@yahoo.com
Opening Hours Migrant Reception: Monday-Sunday 16:00-21:30
Opening Hours Office: Monday-Saturday 09:30-13:00
Casa del Migrante welcomes people that come from the south of Mexico and Central America, or anybody that is going up to the US. They welcome Mexican deportees or repatriates that come from the US. Though they do not work directly with refugees they also have welcomed refugees in the past.
En la Casa del Migrante le damos acogida a personas que vienen desde el sur de México y América Central, o a las personas que están viajando hacia Estados Unidos. También le damos acogida a mexicanos deportados o repatriados que vienen desde Estados Unidos. Si bien no trabajamos con refugiados directamente hemos recibido con asistencia humanitaria a refugiados en el pasado.
Address: Carlos Dolci no. 96, Colonia Alfonso XIII, Delegación Álvaro Obregón, C.P. 01460 Mexico
Tel.: (52 55) 55 14 15 21, 55 14 15 19 ext. 118, 100
Email: sinfronteras@sinfronteras.org.mx
Contact person: Rosalba Soto Palma (General Director Assistant)
Email: rsoto@sinfronteras.org.mx
Without Borders’s basis is the conviction that migration is a complex and old phenomenon which has to be dealt by integrated and multidisciplinary policies, and the civil society has its role on the process by offering services and participating actively during the creation of adequate migration and refugee policies and programmes. We provide access to ProBono Legal Aid.
Address: Francisco Villa #10, Barrio de Fatima, 29264 San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México.
Tel: +52 967 6747811,01 800 837 86 89
Email: comunicacion@vocesmesoamericanas.org
This NGO is dedicated to defending the rights of transnational indigenous communities.
Mexico LGBTQI+ Resources
Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Mexico.
Mexico COI
Find Mexico Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents.
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Last updated March 2024