An increasing number of migrants from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa have begun migrating through Mexico en route to the US in recent years.
But Muslim migrants face a series of additional challenges in Mexico, human rights experts say, from language barriers to misconceptions about those who follow a religion with scant presence in Mexican society.
According to 2020 census data, there are fewer than 8,000 Muslims living in Mexico, representing less than 0.01 per cent of the population.
“They have a very particular situation due to their culture and religion,” said Soraya Vazquez, of the human rights group Al Otro Lado. “There is a lot of stigma against the Muslim community.”
Many migrants who travel to Mexico from other continents hoping to ultimately reach the US have to pay smugglers thousands of dollars for the lengthy journeys. This puts them at risk of extortion and violence, Vazquez said, especially if they are unable to pay off the hefty debts because they are stuck in Mexico.
Reuters spoke with five Afghan migrants in Tijuana who all had their US asylum appointments cancelled. Like Zazai, they said they could not return to Afghanistan, but that staying in Mexico felt like a perilous option, too.
“It was like a funeral here,” said Ahmed Tijani, assistant director of the Assabil shelter who is originally from Ghana, describing the atmosphere in the refuge on Trump’s first day in power. “No one could believe what happened.”
