UNHCR Relocates More Than 10,000 Refugees in Mexico

GENEVA - The United Nations refugee agency says it has helped more than 10,000 refugees, most from Central America, restart their lives in safer, more economically viable communities in Mexico.

More than 70 percent of all asylum claims in Mexico are made in the south of the country, where job opportunities and services are limited. Consequently, the U.N. refugee agency started an integration program in 2016 to relocate refugees into communities with better prospects.  UNHCR spokesman Babar Balloch said the program has relocated 10,000 refugees to one of eight cities in central and northern Mexico.  "There, the labor and housing markets, as well as the education and health systems, have the capacity to integrate refugees, as a result of demographic transition and economic growth," he said. "UNHCR supports program participants with temporary housing, cultural orientation, vocational training, school enrollment and job placement."