Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which marked its second anniversary last February, the Mexican government tripled the residence permits for Russian citizens.
Mexico authorized 3,231 Russians to live in its territory last year, three times more than in 2021, Reuters reported yesterday citing official figures.
Thus, detailed the news agency, the country became the second destination that welcomed the most migrants from Russia last year in Latin America, only behind Argentina, which issued 3,750 residence visas to Russians.
In 2023, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay granted temporary or permanent residence to almost 9,000 Russians, compared to just over a thousand in 2020, Reuters highlighted.
Exiles from Russia and experts pointed out that the growing migration responds to the expansion of the military recruitment system by Moscow.
They explained that Latin American countries, unlike the US and Europe, have lax rules for receiving Russians, in addition to not applying the strict international sanctions against Putin’s regime and offering accessible lifestyles.
In the case of Argentina, 3,750 residence visas were issued to Russians in 2023, according to government data, which represents an amount 10 times greater than those registered before the war and the pandemic began.
Brazil granted residence to about a thousand Russian citizens last year, compared to 400 in 2021, according to Svetlana Ruseishvili from the University of Sao Carlos in Sao Paulo.
Source: Reforma
