@ La Jornada
On October 23rd, the migrant caravan “for dignity, freedom and peace” began in the municipality of Tapachula, Chiapas. The objective is to “bear witness to the criminalization suffered” by people in mobility, so that both authorities and international organizations and human rights defenders learn about the violations of their rights.
Irineo Mujica from People Without Fronteirs said that he will seek to denounce human rights violations committed by the National Migration Institute itself, including the “sale” of false immigration documents.
The people who make up the caravan are being accompanied by staff from the State and National Commission for Human Rights and Doctors Without Fronteirs. Luis Garcia Villagran, director of the Center for Human Dignification, also accompanies the caravan on its journey and reiterated that all they ask is “to be cared for in accordance with the migration and refugee and political asylum law.”
Garcia Villagran explained that the group remains compact to avoid arrests of people. He also commented that they have added more people, so they estimate that in total there would be four thousand migrants who make up the contingent. Among them, pregnant women and more than a thousand children, but also people with disabilities, as well as sick men and “at least a dozen people who are in wheelchairs.” This, he added, “is a true exodus from poverty, what we are seeing causes a lot of pain.”
The disagreement results from the immigration fence established by the INM in Tapachula despite the fact that many have immigration documents, such as the permanent card and the positive resolution by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).
Despite attempts to arrest by the members of the National Guard as they left Tapachula, the people continued their journey to the north of the country. So far in these three days, there have been no major incidents.
For more information in Spanish:
Caravana por la paz arrancó, Guardia Nacional intentó detenerla (Chiapas Paralelo, 23 de octubre de 2021)
Avanza caravana migrante rumbo a la CDMX (La Jornada, 23 de octubre de 2021)
Permiten Guardia Nacional y Migración libre tránsito de la caravana migrante(El Universal, 25 de octubre de 2021)
Caravana migrante parte de Huehuetán y avanza por Chiapas (Milenio, 25 de octubre de 2021)
For more information from SIPAZ:
Chiapas: Leader of Haitian Migrant Community in Tapachula Denounces Aggression by Immigration Agent (October 17, 2021)
Chiapas: OSC exigen cese de las agresiones a defensores de DH de migrantes en Salto de Agua (October 16, 2021)
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