Mexico suffers from the disappearance of children every two hours, according to the UN – Diario La Página – 2024-09-21 05:24:21

Fourteen children disappear every day in Mexico, equivalent to one every two hours, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said Thursday when analyzing the situation of children in the country and the level of compliance by the State with the international convention that protects and establishes the rights of minors.

“We call for the highest priority and for immediate and effective measures to be taken to prevent, investigate and punish the disappearance of children, including enforced disappearances, and for an immediate search to be carried out and for the 72-hour waiting period to be eliminated,” the UN body said in the conclusions it presented today.

Regarding this specific situation, the Vice President of the Committee, Luis Pedernera, indicated that in Mexico there are currently 17,788 missing children and adolescents between the ages of zero and 17 years.

“Fifty-five percent are girls, and the highest figures are from the age of 12, which reaches 74%, and in Mexico, according to the information that the Committee processed during the dialogue (with the official delegation of the country with which it met), 14 children disappear every day,” Pederna explained in a press conference.

In its report, the Committee has asked the Mexican government to declare the fight against the murder of women and children a national cause, to investigate and punish these cases, even when they have been committed by law enforcement, as well as the forced disappearance of minors.