Mexico to Give Migrants Maps of Border Desert

Mexico's national human rights commission announced yesterday that it would give would-be migrants detailed maps of the Arizona desert, the most popular - but riskiest - clandestine immigration corridor into the United States.

The plan comes at a time of increasing anti-immigrant sentiment in the US and the maps are unlikely to go down well among advocates of an American bill designed to toughen up control of the 2,000-mile border, due to be debated in the Senate next month.

"We recognise the right of every country to define its migration policy, but at the same time nothing can be above basic human rights," said Mauricio Farah of the human rights commission, which is technically independent but government-funded. "Our intention is not to encourage migration but to save lives."

Mr Farah told a press conference that some 500 Mexicans died trying to cross into the US last year, the highest ever death toll. Many of them perished in the desert, he said, because they were unprepared for the hardships they would encounter.

The maps, elaborated by the Arizona-based humanitarian group Humane Borders, mark the area's topographical features, provide estimates of how many days it takes to cross and information on where migrants can find water stations en route or rescue beacons to summon the border patrol. Red dots indicate the places where migrants have died in the past.

The maps also warn migrants to travel only with trusted companions, and to take appropriate clothing as well as plenty of water and food. They advise against attempting the journey in the hottest months of the year when temperatures in the desert regularly top 40C (104F).

Every year hundreds of thousands of Mexican migrants seeking jobs in the US are drawn to take these potentially deadly routes because of an incremental crackdown in more populated border areas.