Mexico’s disappearances crisis could affect 165,000 children: Report

Around 165,000 children and adolescents in Mexico could have a missing parent, according to an exploratory estimate by human rights organization Tejiendo Redes Infancia, local media reported Friday.

The organization published a report titled “Daughters and Sons of Missing Persons in Mexico,” highlighting the impact of disappearances on children who remain largely invisible in official records.

Juan Martin Perez Garcia, regional coordinator of Tejiendo Redes Infancia, said the estimate was not an exact count but was intended to highlight gaps in official data on the family ties of missing people and how those gaps affect public policies for indirect victims.

The estimate is based on 103,176 people aged 15 to 49 who were registered as missing or not located in Mexico as of August 2026, according to the report.

Tejiendo Redes Infancia applied a national average of 1.60 children per person, based on Mexico’s 2023 National Survey of Population Dynamics, to estimate that 165,081 children could potentially be affected by the disappearances, local media reported.

Mexico’s National Registry of Missing and Not Located Persons (RNPDNO) records missing people but does not identify their children, their ages, who cares for them or what support they receive.

The organization said the lack of such information prevents authorities from identifying these children as indirect victims and from designing policies and allocating resources to protect and assist them.

The report said the disappearance of a parent can disrupt childcare, reduce household income, affect children’s education and increase insecurity, stigma and the risk of revictimization.

Tejiendo Redes Infancia called on Mexican authorities to create a specific mechanism to identify, protect and assist children whose parents have disappeared.

Perez Garcia also called for dedicated public funding, saying there is currently no specific budget to address the needs of these children.

The organization said the absence of family information also places a greater burden of care on mothers, grandmothers, siblings, partners and other relatives.

The report comes as Mexico continues to face a major crisis of missing and disappeared people, with more than 100,000 cases involving people aged 15 to 49 alone, according to the organization’s analysis.