Mexico: Red Cross launches mobile app to help migrants

In Mexico City, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced the launch of a mobile application specifically for migrants in Central America and Mexico. RedSafe is a digital humanitarian platform that contains information and resources accessible to migrants to help them guard against the risks they face along the way. The app can be downloaded in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the United States.

A Colombian migrant near the U.S. border seeking asylum in Tijuana in May 2023. © Gregory Bull / AP

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With our correspondent in Mexico, Emmanuelle Steels

On their way north, migrants crossing Central America and Mexico face many dangers, such as violence from armed groups in the region. To help them protect themselves, the International Committee of the Red Cross is launching RedSafe, an app that provides them with useful, up-to-date and reliable information, according to Olivier Dubois, Head of Delegation in Mexico and Central America: "For migrants, knowing their rights, locating humanitarian services and obtaining information to protect themselves are factors that can mark the difference between life and death.

Tips and alerts

Via RedSafe, migrants can access advice and safety alerts. They can also use the app to store documents they'll need along the way. Daniela Gutiérrez, deputy coordinator of the ICRC's protection programme, says the app also serves as an interactive map: "It's a map that locates migrant shelters and humanitarian services in the area where the person is and helps them map out routes to access these services.

In recent months, changes in migration policies in the United States have sparked misinformation, a situation that the Red Cross intends to remedy through this app. RedSafe is expected to reach some 30,000 users.

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• Mexico
• Humanitarian
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• El Salvador
• United States