National/International: World Network of Mothers of Disappeared Migrants Formed in Mexico

@Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano

Within the framework of the 8th World Social Forum on Migration that took place in Mexico City from November 2nd to 4th, dozens of women from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Senegal, Mauritania, Tunisia, Algeria, Spain and Italy met to participate in the World Summit of mothers of missing migrants. At the end of the event, they agreed on the creation of the World Network of Mothers of Disappeared Migrants. Among the actions that will be implemented is the establishment of a digital platform where the names, countries and all the personal data of the people who disappeared while migrating and those looking for them will be held; strategies to maintain contact and define joint actions; virtual training workshops that explain the ways of conducting searches will be held, among other activities.

In a final manifesto, they denounced that, “the process of forced displacement throughout the world has forced people to leave behind their place of origin, their country and their loved ones. They migrate to preserve their lives and the lives of their families from generalized social violence; from wars and conflicts; from the poverty generated by extractivism, megaprojects and neoliberalism that has permeated all areas of life; from state violence and the agreements of impunity between governments and criminal groups; from climate change and the environmental destruction that attacks populations.” They demanded “a dignified treatment in accordance with international standards for migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, and people seeking their missing relatives.” They also stated that, “Migrating is a Right. Not migrating is also. Therefore, we hold the States of the world responsible for the pain that has brought us together in this Summit, and we demand the right of everyone to a dignified life, in any country in which they find themselves.”

For more information in Spanish:

Manifiesto de la Cumbre Mundial de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos (Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Madres de migrantes desaparecidos crean red mundial para su búsqueda (Animal Político, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

A los miles de migrantes que ya están en CdMx se unen madres de desaparecidos que piden justicia (Sin Embargo, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos inician red de búsqueda (Telesur, 5 de noviembre de 2018)

En México, cumbre global de madres de migrantes desaparecidos (La Jornada, 1ero de noviembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National / International: Caravan of mothers of disappeared migrants arrives in Mexico
(November 1st, 2018)

National/International: “Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants” Arrives to Mexico
(December 27th, 2017)

México : Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos “buscando vida en caminos de muerte” (25 de noviembre de 2016)

National: XI Caravan of Mothers of Central American Migrants seeking out their sons in Mexico (December 26th, 2015)

 

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National / International: First Migrant Caravan advances in Mexico; a person dies in the second caravan trying to enter; Trump announces operation «Faithful Patriot» to close US border

Migrants Exodus (@SIPAZ)

While the first migrant Caravan that entered Mexico on October 20 continues to advance in Oaxaca, a second caravan was stopped trying to cross the border so as to continue its journey to the United States on October 28. This day, in Tecun Uman, Henry Adalid Díaz Reyes, 26 years old, originally from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, died after receiving a rubber bullet hit allegedly by the federal police of Mexico, trying to stop the crossing of this caravan. On the Guatemalan side, local media reported that several people were injured during a clash between the National Civil Police of Guatemala and about 2,000 migrants who forcibly broke through the metal fence through which they accessed Mexican territory.

The Secretary of the Interior in Mexico, Alfonso Navarrete Prida, said that the elements of the Federal Police that tried to stop the passage of migrants on the border with Guatemala did not carry weapons: “The Federal Police, as witnessed by the CNDH, did not carry weapons (…) The instruction was clear: unarmed police (…) It has been proven that some of the aggressors who tried to enter the country today carried firearms and the so-called Molotov cocktails “. He affirmed that Mexico has shared information with the governments of Guatemala and Honduras so that the aggressors are detained and made available to the authorities.

It should be noted that on October 29, about 200 people from San Salvador, El Salvador, left their country for the United States. They hope that on the road more people will join them and that in a few days they will be able to cross the border with Mexico.

Likewise, on October 29, the United States announced the start-up of the operation “Faithful Patriot” for the deployment of 5,200 soldiers on the border with Mexico before the arrival of these caravans. “Our message is simple: we will not allow large groups to enter the United States in an unsafe and illegal manner,” told Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, during a press conference. He indicated that the military personnel will cooperate with the more than 1,000 agents of the Customs and Border Protection service and the 2,100 members of the National Guard that have already been distributed in 26 border points, in particular in the states of Texas, Arizona and California.

Hours earlier, President Donald Trump had said on Twitter that “Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border. Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process. This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!“

Of the more than 7,000 who initially entered Mexico, some 4,000 would have voluntarily returned to their country, an official source reported in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

For more information (in Spanish):

Caravana: un segundo grupo de migrantes centroamericanos rompe la valla fronteriza entre México y Guatemala en fuerte enfrentamiento con la policía (BBC Mundo, 29 de octubre de 2018)

Caravana de migrantes: Estados Unidos anuncia el despliegue de 5.200 militares a la frontera con México (BBC Mundo, 29 de octubre de 2018)

Migrantes cruzan a México bajo promesa de pedir refugio pero se rebelan y unen a segunda caravana (Proceso, 29 de octubre de 2018)

Segunda caravana de migrantes intenta entrar a México; policía mata a uno (En el camino, 29 de octubre de 2018)

Segunda caravana intenta entrar a México, muere migrante en el intento (Chiapas Paralelo, 29 de octubre de 2018)

Muere migrante hondureño en choque con PF (La Jornada, 28 de octubre de 2018)

Hondureño de la #CaravanaMigrante muere en enfrentamiento en México (ADN Político, 28 de octubre de 2018)

Ejército, PNC y Policía Municipal tomarán control de Tecún Umán (Prensa Libre, 28 de octubre de 2018)

Durante tres horas, la Gendarmería impide el tránsito de la caravana migrante en Oaxaca (Proceso, 27 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas / National / International: Migrant Caravan about to enter Oaxaca November 3, 2018

National / International: Caravan of migrants from Honduras arrives in Mexico October 22, 2018

National / International: Mexico, migration filter? September 21, 2018

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA June 25, 2018

Chiapas / National / International: Migrant Caravan about to enter Oaxaca

@Radio Zapatista

On October 27, it is expected that the majority of the Migrant Caravan-Exodus will cover the Arriaga-Juchitán of Zaragoza section, leaving Chiapas to enter Oaxaca. It is estimated that there are still more than 6000 people. “Community support, from civil, grassroots and religious organizations continues to be the main source of life and hope for the people on their journey. Also, some governmental bodies and international organizations continue to follow the Exodus and greater action was observed by the Municipal Councils of Mapastepec, Pijijiapan and Tonalá, providing medical care and food”, said the Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Group in Chiapas. .

In recent days, the reinforcement of immigration and police control in the border area has been confirmed. On October 26, a group of at least 150 migrants (some speak of 300, others of 450), composed of Hondurans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans, who walked from the municipality of Suchiate to Tapachula, Chiapas, to join the migrant caravan was detained by the Federal Police and personnel of the National Institute of Migration (INM). They were transferred, in trucks and vans, to the Siglo XXI migration station, located in Tapachula. At the time of the arrest, “panic spread when they were forced to get into the vans; Most people were able to flee in the bushes, but again families, children and adolescents were trapped. On this occasion, different media were witnesses and circulated videos that show the violence of the operation and the separation of children from their parents”, said the Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Group in Chiapas.

For his part, the Ambassador of Honduras in Mexico, Alden Rivera Montes, said that of those who entered the first wave so far, 500 migrants have approached him to be repatriated and that 1,900 submitted their request for refuge before the Mexican Commission of Assistance for Refugees (COMAR).

The Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Group in Chiapas reported that “persons and families who decided to return due to exhaustion, disinformation and the difficult environmental and institutional conditions of the exodus, are exposed to the absence of accompanying protocols for repatriation by town halls, consulates and institutions responsible for the attention to vulnerable groups, as is the case of children. This absence translates into long waits in spaces without guarantee of safety, food and health”.

The same 26, almost a week after the Caravan entered Mexico, the president Enrique Peña Nieto announced a program for the attention to migrants called “You are in your house” that seeks to provide medical care, education, temporary employment and an identification to those who have recently entered the South border. It raised some restrictions to access these benefits: applicants must be in Oaxaca or Chiapas and must have registered their entry or their request for refuge with the INM. The procedures will be free, said the Ministry of the Interior

“Ninety-nine percent of the members of the caravan rejected the offer because it is specific to Chiapas and Oaxaca, states in a similar condition to the countries from which we come,” the organization of Peoples Without Borders told the media.

The migrants have requested a meeting with Peña Nieto and his successor, Andrés Manuel Andrés López Obrador, in Mexico City where the caravan could arrive on November 2. From there, some migrants could choose to stay and work in Mexico, but several continue to pretend to reach the US. The president of this country, Donald Trump, has described the passage of the caravan as a “national emergency” and warned that he will mobilize 800 soldiers to the border along with two thousand elements of the National Guard to contain the Caravan.

For more information (in Spanish) :

Migrantes rechazan oferta de Peña (La Jornada, 27 de octubre de 2018)

Actualización del Éxodo Migrante (OSC, 27 de octubre de 2018)

México ofrece trabajo y atención médica a la caravana migrante para frenar su paso a EE UU (El País, 27 de octubre de 2018)

Peña Nieto trata de evitar que la Caravana de Migrantes llegue a EEUU (El Mundo, 27 de octubre de 2018)

ACCIÓN URGENTE-ÉXODO MIGRANTE (OSC, 27 de octubre de 2018)

Policía Federal y agentes del INM detienen a 150 migrantes en Chiapas; intentaban unirse a la caravana (Animal Político, 26 de octubre de 2018)

Interceptan a hondureños que querían sumarse a la caravana (Proceso, 26 de octubre de 2018)

EPN anuncia plan “Estás en tu Casa” dirigido a migrantes en México (La Jornada, 26 de octubre de 2018)

ACTUALIZACIÓN ÉXODO MIGRANTE (OSC, 26 de octubre de 2018)

Caravana de migrantes a su paso por Pijijiapan y Tonalá, Chiapas (Radio Zapatista, 26 de octubre)

ACTUALIZACIÓN DEL ÉXODO MIGRANTE(OSC, 25 de octubre de 2018)

Pueblos migrantes organizados rompen las fronteras y muros impuestos por los gobiernos (OSC, 25 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National / International: Caravan of migrants from Honduras arrives in Mexico October 22, 2018

National / International: Mexico, migration filter? September 21, 2018

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA June 25, 2018

National / International: Caravan of mothers of disappeared migrants arrives in Mexico

Ruben Figueroa, Mesoamerican Migrants Movement

On October 23, in the midst of the exodus of thousands of Hondurans who entered Mexico to reach the United States, the XIV caravan of Central American mothers who seek their missing children in this same attempt also arrived in Mexico.

The Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, which has been supporting this process, estimates that more than 70,000 people from Central America, including Hondurans, Guatemalans and Salvadorans, disappeared in Mexican territory. The violence and human rights violations to which they may be exposed have been widely documented by various human rights organizations, including the United Nations (UN), which have documented the risks of migrants in Mexico and the crimes they may face.

The women who participate in the caravan this year integrate several search groups in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. They will be in Mexico from October 23 to November 7, “carrying out actions of research, communal living and protest in 12 states of the Mexican territory covering almost 4,000 kilometers in length and with the confidence of impacting the Mexican society to which they ask for solidarity with their cause”, the statement announcing the activity informed.

The same statement emphasized that “in this edition, one of the purposes of the caravan is to arrive at Mexico City in time to participate in the World Summit of Mothers of Missing Migrants, which will take place in parallel and as a part of the World Social Forum on Migration. on November 2, 3, and 4 of this year, where for the first time there will be a historic meeting between mothers from Maghreb countries: Mauritania, Senegal, Algeria, Tunisia, in addition to Italy, areas of the Asian Pacific, the United States, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and also Mexican mothers. “

The objective of this summit is “to link emerging organizations of family members, mothers in particular, who share the struggle to find their loved ones and reunite their families broken by the phenomenon of forced displacement, to share experiences of search and healing, to feed the hope and to recognize that the problem of the disappearances of people in movement is global, diverse and extremely complex “; as well as “to send a strong message of repudiation to the world powers, governments and institutions, to tell them that their migration management models, instead of solving what they erroneously assume as a problem, criminally aggravate the situation they cause in this era of capitalist accumulation by dispossession and violence, and that they will not succeed, no matter how many dead they produce, to “order” and control the migratory flows ».

For more information (In Spanish)

Inicia Caravana de migrantes desaparecidos 2018 – vídeo (La Jornada, 23 de octubre de 2018)

Llegará a México caminata de madres de migrantes desaparecidos (La Jornada, 23 de octubre de 2018)

Madres centroamericanas llegan a México este martes en busca de sus hijos desaparecidos (Animal Político, 23 de octubre de 2018)

Madres centroamericanas avanzan hacia México buscando a sus parientes migrantes desaparecidos (CNN México, 20 de octubre de 2018)

COMUNICADO: XIV Caravana de Madres de Migrantes Desaparecidos 2018 (Movimiento Migrante Mesoamericano, 5 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ (in English) :

National/International: “Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants” Arrives to Mexico December 27, 2017

Mexico: Mothers of Disappeared Migrants “Looking for Life on Roads of Death” November 28, 2016

Chiapas: Caravan for Peace, Life and Justice Reaches San Cristobal de Las Casas April 10, 2016

National / International: Caravan of migrants from Honduras arrives in Mexico

Caravan of migrants from Honduras (@AFP)

On October 19, thousands of Honduran migrants entered Mexico where, according to media reports, they were greeted by tear gas. On October 13, they had left in a caravan from San Pedro Sula in the North of Honduras with the intention of arriving in Mexico to continue later to the United States. According to information from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Mexico (UN-DH), the caravan is made up of more than 3,000 people – including minors, women and seniors – fleeing violence, poverty and human rights violations in their country.

This Caravan has provoked the anger of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who has called on the Central American countries and the Mexican authorities to do everything necessary to stop them, even threatening to suspend the financial support given to them.

Since October 17, the Mexican authorities had sent some 240 members of the Federal Police to the southern border so as to accompany an operation of the National Institute of Migration, which would include the observation of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH). For its part, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) announced that migrants would be treated in accordance with the law and with respect to their human rights: those who have a passport or visa will enter as well as those who submit refugee applications while those who violate the law will be deported. The head of the SRE, Luis Videgaray, also announced that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was asked to help Mexico to process these requests and to find a permanent solution.

In light of what happened on the 19th, the Secretary of the Interior, Alfonso Navarrete, indicated that an agreement had been reached with the migrants for them to enter Mexico in an “orderly manner”, in groups of between 50 and 100 people to be reviewed, but that the Caravan “broke the agreement” by trying to enter Mexico “by force” and “hurting” Mexican police.

On the other hand, several civil and social organizations, as well as churches, have expressed the need to respect migrants’ human rights and calling for solidarity.

For more information (in Spanish):

TUMBEMOS EL MURO. PRONUNCIAMIENTO DEL CNI-CIG EN APOYO A LA CARAVANA DE MIGRANTES (20 de octubre de 2018)

Ante crisis humanitaria, exigimos a los gobiernos de GUatemala y de México, respeto a los derechos que tienen las personas migrantes (OSC, 19 de octubre de 2018)

La caravana de migrantes entra en territorio mexicano (El País, 19 de octubre de 2018)

Qué busca la caravana migrante y por qué México los recibe con 200 policías para impedir su paso (Animal Político, 19 de octubre de 2018)

La policía mexicana lanzó gases contra los migrantes, según un VIDEO de periodistas en la zona (Sin Embargo, 19 de octubre de 2018)

México recibe a la avanzada de la Caravana Migrante; llegan las primeras peticiones de asilo (Sin Embargo, 19 de octubre de 2018)

Policía Federal frena irrupción de caravana migrante a México (La Jornada, 19 de octubre de 2018)

Detienen en Chiapas a Irineo Mújica, activista defensor de migrantes (La Jornada, 18 de octubre de 2018)

Gobierno mexicano atiende solicitudes de refugio para migrantes hondureños (La Jornada, 18 de octubre de 2018)

EN RESPUESTA A LA LLEGADA DE LA CARAVANA DE HONDURAS A TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS (OSC, 18 de octubre de 2018)

¿CARAVANA O ÉXODO DE MIGRANTES? (CELAM, 18 de octubre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National / International: Mexico, migration filter? September 21, 2018

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA June 25, 2018

National: 84 Organizations and Collectives Oppose Gendarmerie at Southern Border April 30, 2018

Mexico – National/International: Latest Amnesty International Report on the Deadly Return of Central American Asylum Seekers from Mexico February 15, 2018

National: More than Six Thousand Children Disappeared in Mexico in the last 11 Years

(@Arena Publica)

On October 3rd, in the framework of the National Conference for the Rights of Children and Adolescents, Redim reported that in the last 11 years, 6,614 children and adolescents disappeared in Mexico and that 75% of these disappearances occurred in the presidential term of office ending (4,980 cases, of which 3,067 are girls, that is, 61.1% of the cases). It also reported that the State of Mexico and Puebla account for 40.5% of the disappearances so far in this administration. The executive director of the Redim, Juan Martin Perez Garcia, warned of the fact that the disappearances of minors represent 7.7% of the total number of cases of people whose whereabouts are unknown and who, on May 30th, reached the figure of 37,435 people.

Analyzing these data, the Redim highlighted that, during the government of Felipe Calderon Hinojosa “the disappearances (of minors) which are registered are clearly located in the north of the country” while with Peña Nieto “violence and disappearances have a phenomenon of dispersion affecting other regions of the country.” It regretted that violence against children and adolescents “remains an invisible issue and is not placed on the political and budgetary agendas”; as well as the absence of members of the transition team at the conference, when it referred to the fact that, until now, the incoming president “has not mentioned children nor their problems at all; moreso disappeared children.” It called on the president-elect, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador “to rememeber that the serious human rights crisis the country is going through will not change on December 1st. They are the same institutions, the same officials and if the same failed security model and strategy is followed, the same [results] will be repeated.”

Jan Jarab, representative in Mexico of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), noted that “A high percentage of all disappearances are the disappearances of minors, in a context of violence widespread, in a context of migration, transit, which exposes children and adolescents, accompanied and unaccompanied, to the risk of disappearance, trafficking, violence (…) in a context of security policies that are too violent, without accountability.”

For more information in Spanish:

Más de 6 mil menores desaparecieron en México en 11 años; 75% fueron en sexenio de Peña: Redim (Proceso, 3 de octubre de 2018)

4,980 menores desaparecieron en el sexenio de Peña Nieto, pero no parece importarnos mucho: Redim (Sin Embargo, 3 de octubre de 2018)

Huérfanos, sicarios, halcones. O asesinados. O desaparecidos. La guerra en México consume niños (Sin Embargo, 29 de abril de 2018)

Desaparecen diario 4 menores: Redim; niños tienen entre 13 y 17 años (Excelsior, 4 de octubre de 2018)

Cuatro mil 980 niños desaparecieron en 6 años: Redim (Vanguardia, 4 de octubre de 2018)

National / International: Mexico, migration filter?

@Conexión migrante

In mid-September, several rumors surfaced that the government of Enrique Peña Nieto would be considering signing a commitment with the United States under which Mexico would accept a deportation quota of undocumented non-Mexican immigrants, and a number of asylum seekers seeking refuge in U.S. This would be under the statutes of the bilateral cooperation of the Mérida Initiative signed with the government of President Felipe Calderón to combat drug trafficking and organized crime on a bilateral basis; and as part of the Zero Tolerance policy for undocumented immigration of the Donald Trump government. The New York Times detailed that the 20 million dollars allocated for this would cover the costs of the deportation from Mexico to the countries of origin of some 17,000 undocumented immigrants in order to prevent the flow of migrants in the southern border of the United States.

Days later, it was reported that due to pressure from the transition team of the president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the government of Enrique Peña Nieto rejected these 20 million dollars.

Given the rumors, civil organizations in favor of the rights of migrants and refugees, expressed their outright rejection of a plan of this nature and more broadly to bilateral negotiations between the United States and Mexico on a safe Third-Country Agreement in matters of asylum: “these measures represent a threat to the right of each person to seek asylum in the country that he/she considers to be safe, in addition to a renunciation by both governments of their international obligations to offer access to international protection for any person“. They pointed out that “Mexico is far from being a safe country for migrants and refugees, and forcing people to seek protection in Mexico would exceed the country’s asylum system, which is already weak. International and Mexican organizations have documented how migrants and refugees traveling through Mexico are frequent victims of crimes such as kidnapping, extortion, robbery and sexual violence, committed by criminal organizations, but also by Mexican migration agents and police. ” They recommended that “US assistance to Mexico should not be aimed at increasing arrests and deportations, and should not support immigration and security authorities that lack mechanisms to make their agents responsible for the abuses committed against migrants. In addition, the United States should not outsource the application of its immigration laws to Mexico. Instead, the United States should support the efforts of UNHCR and civil organizations in strengthening protection mechanisms in the region. “ They concluded that “both countries must comply with their international and moral obligations towards migrants and refugees, respecting due process, the family unity and the right to seek protection in the country migrants consider safe”.

For more information (in Spanish) :

Gobierno de Peña firmará convenio que convierte a México en filtro migratorio de EU (Proceso, 12 de septiembre de 2018)

Gobierno mexicano considera ofrecimiento de 20 millones de dólares de EU para ser filtro migratorio (El Economista, 13 de septiembre de 2018)

Por presión del equipo de AMLO, gobierno de Peña rechaza 20 mdd de EU para filtro migratorio (Proceso, 13 de septiembre de 2018)

Rechaza gobierno de Peña 20 mdd de EU para filtro migratorio (El Sur, 13 de septiembre de 2018)

Organizaciones rechazan que México sea una herramienta de deportación de EU (Conexión Migrante, 14 de septiembre de 2018)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: OSC Asks for Suspension of Agreement with US to Convert Mexico into “Migration Filter” in Return for Favors in Renegotiation of NAFTA June 25, 2018

National: 84 Organizations and Collectives Oppose Gendarmerie at Southern Border April 30, 2018

Mexico – National/International: Latest Amnesty International Report on the Deadly Return of Central American Asylum Seekers from Mexico February 15, 2018

National/International: “Caravan of Mothers of Missing Migrants” Arrives to Mexico December 27, 2017