The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), the body responsible for refugee status determination (RSD), implements procedures applying the broader definition proposed by the Cartagena Declaration with a view to a more agile, efficient, and quality procedure.
The Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) implements merged procedures applying the expanded definition proposed by the Cartagena Declaration, with a view to implementing a more agile, efficient and quality refugee status determination (RSD) procedures. These procedures speed up the registration and eligibility stages for certain profiles of applicants in vulnerable conditions and with a high inclusion rate.
In 2019, Mexico received 70,431 applications for recognition of refugee status. The top three nationalities of applicants were Honduras (30,283), El Salvador (9,079) and Cuba (8,732). In mid-2019, Mexico began to receive an unusual number of Haitians who made a request for recognition of refugee status with the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).
In July 2020, a Country of Origin Information Unit (hereinafter U-COI) within the Protection and Return Directorate of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) was created with the aim of supporting protection officers in the refugee status determination (RSD) procedure and facilitate decision making.
Mexican legislation provides for the granting of complementary protection. This form of international protection is granted to a foreigner who has not been recognized as a refugee according to the law (Mexican law provides for both the universal definition of the term refugee and the expanded definition) but it is considered that their return could put their life at risk or could leave them in danger of being subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
The Immigration and Refugee board of Canada (IRB) is committed to resolving cases simply, efficiently, and fairly. In doing so, it seeks to allocate the appropriate level of resources to the matter being decided. The IRB’s Refugee Protection Division (RPD), the first-instance refugee status determination (RSD) body in Canada has two separate processes for finalizing less complex claims..