CIVICUS discusses the closure of offices of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Mexico with members of Integral Human Rights In Action (DHIA), a Mexican civil society organisation (CSO) that promotes and defends human rights in contexts of mobility.
In May, the UNHCR announced it would be closing four of its 12 offices in Mexico due to funding cuts following Donald Trump’s decision to freeze US$700 million in funding to the agency. This will result in around 200 people losing their jobs and a 30 per cent reduction in the UNHCR’s global operational capacity. Mexico received almost 80,000 asylum applications in 2024, and this reduction in institutional capacity comes at a time when demand for protection services is intensifying, placing a disproportionate burden on CSOs with limited resources.