Mexico - IOM has started a series of community festivals to promote the rights of migrants in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Starting in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, these events will be replicated in several municipalities in the region, to establish an information thread among these countries as well as promote the work of institutions in the context of migration.

These festivals are part of a communication strategy that IOM will implement in the region in the next two months. The purpose of this strategy is to promote the rights of migrants, chronicle the challenges and risks they face and inform them on the services and assistance programmes in the region, using arts as a means such as theatre, poetry and music. This strategy also aims to empower local artists and youth networks through workshops on how to replicate this activity.

The hosting municipalities have relevant numbers on emigration, generated mainly by factors such as violence and lack of economic opportunities, as well as rising tendencies in transit and return migration. This region (Mesoamerica) is considered the corridor with the highest number of migrants in transit in the world. Although no official numbers exist, civil society organizations estimate that approximately 400,000 migrants a year, coming mainly from Central America, transit irregularly through Mexico, entering mainly through the State of Chiapas and in most cases, heading to the US.

Unaccompanied migrant children continue to be a reality in this corridor. According to the Mexican Ministry of the Interior, from January to May 8,007 children aged 7 years and below have been registered through the Mexican National Institute of Migration, out of which 4,230 were unaccompanied. On another note, according to IOM’s Regional Office for Central and North America and the Caribbean, the region has the highest flow of returned migrants in the world in relation to its population size.

The festivals will be held in Tapachula (México), Tacaná y Sibinal (Guatemala), San Miguel y La Unión (El Salvador), and Nacaome y San Pedro Sula (Honduras). This traveling activity takes the public space, mainly municipal plazas, where participants can translate messages on migration through the arts. Also, these festivals will have the participation of several IOM partners such as human rights commissions, UN agencies and local authorities.

For further information, please contact: Claudette Walls, IOM Mexico; Tel: +52 962 642 56 74, Email: cwalls@iom.int