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I haven't tweeted about #extracontinental migration in a bit, but as this year comes to close, it seems important to review some of the data of African and Asian migrants who travelled through the Americas this year - in the midst of a pandemic. /A short thread:
According to Mexico's apprehension data (from Jan through Oct 2020), Mexico has apprehended 943 migrants from African and Asian countries this year. EC migration plummeted after March, and it has remained at or below 50 apprehensions per month since then.
In 2019, that total number of EC migrant apprehensions was around 14,000. However, even before the pandemic, apprehensions of migrants from African and Asian countries had dropped considerably following the summer and early fall months of that year.
The most common Asian countries of origin for 2020 are Bangladesh and Nepal - followed thereafter by Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. In total, 374 migrants from 24 Asian countries were apprehended in Mexico through the first 10 months of this year.
The most common African countries of origin for 2020 are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ghana - followed by Cameroon, Eritrea, and Guinea. In total, 565 migrants from 24 African countries were apprehended in Mexico through the first 10 months of this year.
While EC migration numbers have dropped by anywhere between 90 and 95% this year, that doesn't mean that there are not EC migrants in the hemisphere. Mexican data source: http://portales.segob.gob.mx/es//PoliticaMigratoria/Boletines_Estadisticos
About 2,500 migrants from Haiti, Cuba, as well as African and Asian migrants have been trapped in the migration camps in southern Panama since the pandemic began in March. https://www.france24.com/en/20200812-desperation-and-violence-in-panama-migrant-camp
At least two migrants have died while in these camps. At least one of those migrants died from complications with covid-19. https://www.prensa.com/sociedad/fallecen-dos-migrantes-en-darien-uno-de-ellos-tenia-la-covid-19/
Other EC migrants are stuck in other parts of Latin America - as far south as Brazil and Ecuador and as far north as Guatemala and Mexico. While the attention around African and Asian migrants in LatAm has decreased, they continue to transit and find themselves stuck in LatAm.
