The number of people asking for asylum in Mexico continues to rise, with nearly 50,000 applications in just the first five months of this year. But an overburdened system has meant asylum seekers often face significant obstacles and abuses in the process.

According to the newest data from Mexico's refugee agency (COMAR), about 49,000 people have requested asylum in Mexico so far this year, continuing a trend of skyrocketing asylum claims in the country.

Petitions for refuge have grown hundredfold in Mexico in the past decade. And so far, 2022 appears to be on a similar trajectory.

However, Mexico’s asylum system is backlogged and under-resourced, leading to prolonged delays.

A new report out this week from the Washington Office on Latin America details the struggles asylum seekers face in Mexico, where they are vulnerable to abuse by authorities, criminal violence and a long, discouraging legal process.

The soaring numbers of asylum petitions in Mexico come as a record 100 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes and as U.S. policies also continue to block many asylum seekers at the border.