More than eight out of ten residents report insecurity in Tapachula, the principal city on México’s southern border, which has the fifth-highest level of insecurity in the country.
The aforementioned comes amid drug cartel disputes that have displaced hundreds of Mexicans to Guatemala.
For the first time in five years, Tapachula is one of the five most insecure municipalities in the country, according to the National Survey of Urban Public Safety (ENSU). Last week, the ENSU reported that 84.7% of residents feel unsafe compared to 59.4% nationally.
The phenomenon is occurring as rival organized crime gangs step up disputes along Mexico’s southern border, recruiting young people and causing at least 400 Chiapas residents to flee to Guatemala since July, Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena said this week.
The situation worsens as Tapachula becomes the epicenter of migration in Mexico, where the government registered a record 1.4 million irregular migrants from January to May, an annual increase of about 650%.
Rafael Alegría López, a migrant rights advocate in the region, said on Saturday that the level of insecurity has increased due to the neglect of the authorities and because Tapachula, as a border city, is caught up in the struggle between cartels for human and drug trafficking.
“We see in many communities, especially in the Sierra region, that they are suffering from the control, the differences, and the conflicts between the cartels, which has forced the displacement of many families, many Chiapanecos, to the neighboring country. It fills us with sadness and uncertainty,” he said.
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San Miguel Times
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