One in Every 10 Mexicans Lacks Birth Certificate Prensa Latina
go to original July 21, 2012

Jaime Garcia stands with girlfriend Esther Bautista, who holds a birth certificate she received for the first time after 37 years, at the Mexican consulate in New York. (AP/Bebeto Matthews)

At least 10 percent of Mexico's population currently lack a birth certificate, preventing them from enjoying basic rights such as access to social programs, according to a study from the Mexican National Autonomous University (UNAM).

The lack of the document also makes it impossible for those citizens to have bank accounts or a voter registration card, which puts them in a legal limbo, said Oscar Ortiz, director of the Be Foundation Right to Identity.

According to La Jornada newspaper, the manager of the NGO explained that this invisible population is mostly made up of children and elderly people in rural and indigenous areas.

The phenomenon also occurs in large cities, specified Ortiz, who said this population is an easy target for organized crime because of their tenuous legal existence.

According to Be Foundation, states with lower levels of coverage are Chiapas, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, Morelos and Michoacan, while the most complete records are located in Aguascalientes, Yucatan, Queretaro, Zacatecas and Jalisco.

Though reliable data is unavailable, it is estimated that out of 2,500,000 annual births in the country, around 600,000 are never registered, Ortiz noted.

The Mexican population is currently estimated at over 112,300,000.

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