IOM Mexico will today sign cooperation agreements with three
migrant shelters in order to strengthen their capacity to provide
assistance to vulnerable migrants in transit through the Mexican
states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.

The activities related to these cooperation agreements with the
shelters of Albergue Hermanos en el Camino, Albergue Hogar de la
Misericordia and Albergue Jesus el Buen Pastor del Pobre y el
Migrante, will be carried out as part of an IOM regional programme
funded by the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees
and Migration (PRM).

Depending on their needs, each shelter will receive medicines,
medical materials and equipment and hygiene products. They will
also get construction materials to build spaces where they can
provide care for women and children and offer individual and group
therapy sessions to help migrants who have suffered traumatic
events during their journey.

IOM will also provide training to shelter staff on issues
including migrants' rights, human trafficking and basic
psychological support for vulnerable migrants.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants enter Mexico each year, most
of them on their way to the United States.  Many of them find
themselves in extremely precarious health conditions, both physical
and mental, after suffering severe abuses along the route.  A
large number of these irregular migrants are women, unaccompanied
children, elderly persons or victims of kidnapping and human
trafficking.

This is the second year that IOM is supporting the efforts of
Civil Society Organizations and migrant shelters in transit
states.

This year a total of 12 migrant shelters will sign agreements
with IOM in the states of Chihuahua, Sonora and Tamaulipas along
the northern border; San Luis Potosi, Veracruz and Tlaxcala in the
center of the country; and in Chiapas, Oaxaca and Tabasco in the
south.  Each of these shelters receives an average of 100
migrants daily, although some have registered more than 600
migrants in a single day.

IOM Mexico Chief of Mission Thomas Lothar Weiss explains: "In
the first phase of our regional programme we focused on the
southern border states. Now we are including shelters in states
located in the centre and north because, although there are fewer
irregular migrants in these regions, their vulnerabilities can
increase exponentially after suffering abuses and traumatic
experiences during their trip."

For more information, please contact:

Hélène Le Goff

IOM Mexico

Tel: +52 55 36 39 22/54 Ext. 108

E-mail: "mailto:hlegoff@iom.int">hlegoff@iom.int