For the first time, more than 100,000 people in Mexico are officially missing, according to the Interior Ministry. The number of unreported cases could be much higher.
More than 100,000 people are now missing in Mexico. The number of people missing from the Mexican Ministry of the Interior’s national register, which is constantly updated, exceeded this mark for the first time.
This reflects the violence the North American country has experienced in the so-called drug war since 2006. According to estimates, more than 350,000 people have died since then. Last year there was an average of 94 murders a day in Mexico.
“Organized crime has become a major contributor to enforced disappearances in Mexico, with varying degrees of involvement, connivance or omission on the part of public officials,” said an April report by the UN Committee against Enforced Disappearances. Given the “almost absolute impunity” in the Latin American country, this is a perfect crime. The victims included activists, journalists and migrants. Enforced disappearances are increasing at an alarming rate in Mexico, particularly among youth and women. However, men between the ages of 15 and 40 are most affected.
According to organizations that search for people who have disappeared, many families do not report missing loved ones because of distrust in the authorities. The true number of the disappeared is therefore much higher than the official one.
