Relatives of missing Mexicans protested on Monday in front of the presidential palace, calling on the government to do more to find the tens of thousands of people who have disappeared.

Relatives of missing Mexicans protest outside the presidential palace on International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
Relatives of missing Mexicans protest outside the presidential palace on International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances AFP / PEDRO PARDO

"90,000+. Where are they?" read a banner brought by families to the event in Mexico City marking International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

"This day cannot go unnoticed," said Maria Teresa Valadez, whose brother Fernando went missing in 2015 in the state of Sonora in the north of the violence-plagued country.

A woman wears a face mask reading 'Where is my son?' at a protest in Mexico City
A woman wears a face mask reading 'Where is my son?' at a protest in Mexico City AFP / PEDRO PARDO

"Why does the government worry about other things and not forced disappearances?" the 39-year-old asked.

Families brought clothes of their missing loved ones to the demonstration
Families brought clothes of their missing loved ones to the demonstration AFP / PEDRO PARDO

The Mexican office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities to strengthen rights guarantees for the missing and their relatives.

"Disappearances are one of the most terrible human rights violations... and as such require a committed and coordinated response from institutions," it said in a statement.

It praised efforts so far including the creation of a forensics coordinating team in March 2020 aimed at identifying thousands of unclaimed bodies.

Last week, a group representing families of the missing said that more than 50,000 unidentified bodies were lying in mass graves or with forensic services.

The Movement for Our Disappeared in Mexico warned that the country was facing "a deep forensic crisis" in the identification of human remains.