The Mexican Commission for Assistance to Refugees (Comar) is swamped with a backlog of more than 48,000 applications, nearly half of which date back to 2017.

The number of refugee applications received four years ago was 2,137, but this year is expected to close with more than 26,000 from migrants from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, said Comar’s new chief, Andrés Ramírez Silva, calling it a drastic increase.

Among this year’s applications are 4,721 filed by travelers in the migrant caravans that have entered Mexico since October.

” . . . Comar is in a very complicated position, in terms of its finances and operational capabilities,” Ramírez said, explaining that the massive increase in applications has not been matched with a budget increase.

Ramírez said he has asked for more money but an insufficient budget had not been the only problem.

The previous authorities were not adequately prepared to process the applications, he said.

Source: El Universal (sp)