Invisible Victims: Migrants Crossing Mexico into The United States



A challenge proposed by Amnesty International
The Problems:  
Every year, tens of thousands of women, men and children are ill-treated, abducted or raped as they travel through Mexico without legal permission as irregular migrants. The vast majority are headed for the US border in the hope of new life far from the crippling poverty they are fleeing. Their journey is one of the most dangerous in the world. Arbitrary detention and extortion by public officials are common. Many simply disappear without trace, kidnapped and killed, or robbed, assaulted and thrown off speeding trains. For those who survive the extreme insecurity and dangers of the journey through Mexico, reaching the US border brings its own hazards. Increased US immigration enforcement in certain border areas has pushed undocumented immigrants to use particularly dangerous routes through the US desert; hundreds of people die each year as a result.
The devastating abuses that take place against migrants is a cross border issue, involving both the United States and Mexican societies. But currently, their deaths, like their lives, remain largely hidden from view. For the families back home, there is little hope of ever finding out what happened. 

How could technology, applications and digital services make the invisible visible with regard to abuses committed against migrants, and be used to support both migrants and their networks in a safe way, helping mitigate the risks and reduce the number of people who die each year?

  1. Aggregate and visualize data for advocacy: How can we make invisible crimes visible without putting migrants at risk? Data collection is vital in order to have a full and comprehensive analysis of the factors that contribute to deaths and abuses across Mexico and along the US border. The lack of such data is a serious barrier to determining the steps that need to be taken to mitigate the prevalence of migrant deaths along the border. Examples of this data include: abuses by smugglers, sexual violence, police and state abuse, and more.

    Some example projects include (see the problem definition for more):
    1. ​Create a simple, accessible digital system to provide a means for the networks of civil society organizations and shelters on the ground who could/can/are collecting and capturing data to aggregate and share this information?
    2. Could we facilitate a form of ‘check in’, which migrants can do from specific safe points on their journey? (it is important to remember that most migrants will not be carrying any form of technology on their person)
       
  2. ​Relative/family support and missing persons: Families experience what psychologists term ‘Ambiguous Loss’, which means that the status of a loved one is in question – unresolved. The grief process cannot start because the person is neither dead nor alive. Families often report debilitating fear and an inability to focus on daily tasks. At any point in their ‘normal’ day, their loved one could be suffering somewhere without help. The search often becomes all-consuming. And without an organized system for searching, families are left to do it alone.

    Relatives and families are a key audience and are also more likely to have access to the web. How can we use existing social networks to connect up families with lost members on migrant crossings?  How could we create a high security database that loved ones of migrants could access in order to be sure their family member is safe, or to track back to where they were last seen? Could we develop a lo-fi, social web based missing and unidentified person system to provide more reliable information to families whose loved ones disappear? Could we create a platform that supports knowledge transfer, allowing for posting missing members, sightings, news and locations?
     
  3. Information provision and distribution for migrants: Many people know they are risking their lives; they cross because of desperation and more information on risks would be unlikely to make a difference. On the other hand, there may be some people crossing for the first time and for whom it may be hard to conceive of the reality of the journey. Many others are deliberately misled by smugglers/traffickers who give false information about the risks i.e. that it is just a day’s walk, etc.

    Could we create a platform that communicates risks to migrants through information and visibility, better planning information - where are the shelters, telephone numbers, water and food points? Could we make it accessible for them to find out information on their rights in specific states and regions e.g access to justice, support networks etc.
     
  4. Collaboration with Border Technologies: A lot of advanced technology hardware is available at the borders (‘smart’ border technologies, satellites, databases of digital fingerprints etc. Could this be used to the benefit of migrants, and not only to keep people out?
The Impact: Thousands of people would be directly supported by tools that facilitate information sharing and data and documentation collection on human rights abuses against migrants along this journey. We are strongly committed to tools that can be taken as foundation concepts to networks of on-the-ground organizations, as well as rights holders themselves, to invite their participation and expertise in a robust collaborative process of scrutiny, refinement and development. When and if a product is ready for market it will be because we have tested, trained and piloted widely with these networks and will likely continue in beta before scaling up to support other regions and contexts where this tool could play a role globally.


Resource List 

•             In hostile terrain: human rights violations in immigration enforcement in the us southwest

o             http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/ai_inhostileterrain_032312_singles.pdf

•             Annual report: Mexico 2013

o             http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/annual-report-mexico-2013

•             Criminals threaten migrants’ rights activists

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/031/2013/en/4ec4238a-3127-4e04-81d2-e21b82b14ef6/amr410312013en.pdf

•             People on the move: surviving the world’s most dangerous journey

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/act30/033/2013/en/165dde73-236f-405d-8f10-853f2f16dcba/act300332013en.pdf

•             Mexico: authorities should protect migrants at risk in the state of Mexico

o             http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/pre01/340/2012/en/0f14811d-c382-47b6-95a2-445398eb3e85/pre013402012en.html

•             Invisible victims: migrants on the move in Mexico

o             http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/014/2010/en/8459f0ac-03ce-4302-8bd2-3305bdae9cde/amr410142010eng.pdf

•             Mexico: urgent action needed to save lives of irregular migrants

o             http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/mexico-urgent-action-needed-save-lives-irregular-migrants-2013-03-12

•             Protect migrants from kidnapping

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/027/2013/en/b3789d55-0e6b-472a-84c0-c69345f601c4/amr410272013en.pdf

•             Safety concerns for migrants’ shelter grow

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/018/2013/en/d23aacca-e849-465b-bc18-41930e29b287/amr410182013en.pdf

•             Death threat for defending migrants

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/010/2013/en/670356a2-5040-4357-8f6f-5e5d510eaed9/amr410102013en.pdf

•             Irregular migrants in Mexico: ten urgent measures to save lives

o             http://amnesty.org/en/library/asset/amr41/011/2013/en/8acd77e6-af84-4719-819f-0e13330a83dc/amr410112013en.pdf

•             Migrants in Mexico: Invisible Victims of Abuse

o             http://blog.amnestyusa.org/americas/migrants-in-mexico-invisible-victims-of-abuse/