Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday that Criminal gangs prey on migrants while authorities ignore the problem "or even play an active part" in it.

Rupert Knox, Mexico Researcher at Amnesty International, said, the report, "Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico", describes abuse facing tens of thousands of Central American migrants who cross Mexico each year trying to reach the United States.

Know further said, "Migrants in Mexico are facing a major human rights crisis leaving them with virtually no access to justice, fearing reprisals and deportation if they complain of abuses."

Amnesty International, in a news release, said that Mexican officials bear responsibility for the alleged abuses.

Amnesty International said, "The Mexican authorities must act to halt the continuing abuse of migrants who are preyed on by criminal gangs while public officials turn a blind eye or even play an active part in kidnappings, rapes and murders."

Knox also said, "Persistent failure by the authorities to tackle abuses carried out against irregular migrants has made their journey through Mexico one of the most dangerous in the world."

The report provided details of alleged kidnappings, mainly for ransom, which the National Human Rights Commission said peaked in 2009 with 10,000 abductions over six months. Almost half of those victims interviewed accused public officials of being complicit in their abduction.

The report said that sexual violence was inflicted on about 60 percent of migrant women and girls, allegedly resulting in demands by some smugglers that women be given contraceptive injections to avoid pregnancy resulting from rape during their trip through Mexico. (With Inputs from Agencies)