National: Over 40 Organizations Demand Protection from the State for Migrants in the Pandemic

@Sinembargo

On July 1^st in an online transmission, the report “Proposal of alternative routes to detention for the migrant population and asylum seekers in Mexico during the Covid-19 pandemic” was presented. In the event which was coordinated by the University Seminar for Studies on Internal Displacement, Migration, Exile and Repatriation of the UNAM, representatives from OXFAM Mexico, the International Detention Coalition, the Fray Matias de Cordova Center for Human Rights on the southern border, and Al Otro Lado Tijuana on the northern border participated.

The report reveals the conditions of risk of contagion and violation of rights faced by thousands of migrants in Mexico and calls on the responsible authorities and control and surveillance bodies to act urgently in order to guarantee that migrants in Mexico have access to their rights.

The report also emphasizes that children continue to be victims of arrests: “We are particularly concerned about the presence of thousands of accompanied children and adolescents, whose best interests are also permanently omitted in the considerations of the Mexican authorities.”

The report, backed by more than 40 civil society organizations, proposes 11 minimum lines of action for the implementation of emergency sanitary measures with the population on the move in the country, in order to reduce the risks of transmission of the virus in this sector, as well as for the officials who serve them and for the communities that host them.

In the presentation, it was repeatedly emphasized that it is not a matter of implementing a different policy but of ensuring that Mexico meets its responsibilities, which derive from international conventions that it has ratified.

More information in Spanish:

En México hay 100 mil migrantes en riesgo por Covid-19, alerta la UNAM (La Jornada 1 de julio)

“Propuesta de rutas alternativas a la detención para la población migrante y solicitante de asilo en México durante la pandemia del Covid-19”(Informe, julio 2020)

UNAM pide acciones para proteger de la pandemia a 100 mil migrantes. (ejecentral 2 de julio)

 

International: World Refugee Marked

@Cuartoscuro

World Refugee Day, established by the UN in 2001, was celebrated on June 20th. It is especially relevant in Mexico to commemorate this day, not only because it is the eighth country in the world with the highest number of asylum requests in 2019, but also due to the large number of internal displacements in this country. According to the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH), it is estimated that there have been at least 338,405 internally displaced persons from 2006 to date.

Regarding the flow of migrants that passes through Mexico from the Central American countries to the United States, there has been a strong increase in recent years: in 2015, only 3,442 people requested refuge in Mexico. That number gradually rose to 70,709 in the past year.

Since 2013, approximately 150 thousand people have requested asylum in Mexico in total, of which only a third of these cases have been resolved to date. Of these, a total of 29,132 were recognized as refugees, while the rest received Complementary Protection or a rejection. Most of the accepted refugees in Mexico come from Honduras, Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

For many years Mexico was only a transit country to the United States. But that has changed, especially due to the more restrictive immigration policy under President Donald Trump. Now the country is also becoming a destination for refugees, explains Andres Ramirez, general coordinator of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR).

However, the year 2020 broke with the trend of the migratory movement. Although in the first quarter of the year the number of applications increased compared to 2019, the emergence of the coronavirus completely cut off the flow of migrants. For as long as the inhumane conditions prevailing in the migratory stations in Mexico during the pandemic have been pointed out, they constitute a very high risk of contagion from the virus. Because of this, many refugees have even expressed the desire to return to their country of origin, but in more than one case they have found the borders of their countries closed by the same pandemic.

For more information in Spanish:

Desplazamiento interno forzado en México (CMDPDH)

Día Mundial de los Refugiados 20 de junio (Naciones Unidas)

Día del Refugiado: epidemia de COVID-19 frena llegada de solicitantes (Animal Político el 20 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: HRW Asks Mexico for “Immediate” Release of All Detained Immigrants Due to Coronavirus (April 19, 2020)

National: Migrant Dies in Protest at Migrant Center in Tabasco; INM Blamed (April 5, 2020)

International/National: USA Closes Southern Border to Asylum Seekers Due to Coronavirus (March 25, 2020)

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears (March 30, 2020)

Chiapas: State Will Have 25 National Guard Military Barracks in 2022

@ChiapasParalelo

Two years from now, Chiapas will have eight new National Guard military barracks, of which two have planned construction dates for this year. This is stated in the report on the Public Security Situation in the State in April, prepared by the federal government. The same document adds that by 2022, 24 National Guard military barracks are planned in four security zones in the state.

During the months of 2020, it is intended to build a barracks in Tonala and one more in Las Margaritas; for 2021 others are contemplated in Suchiate, Huehuetan, Comalapa, Chilon, Bochil and Palenque.

The planned construction implies that several places will have two military barracks in the area, as in the case of Tonala, Las Margaritas and Palenque, due to their different functions, described as organized crime, the flow of migration, a symbolic site of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) or to give a secure image in tourist centers, the newspaper Cuarto Poder reported.

Currently, there are National Guard military barracks in Tapachula, Villa Comaltitlan, Acapetahua, Mapastepec, Pijijiapan, Tonala and Arriaga on the Chiapas coast. In the 39th Military Zone, others are located in Marqués de Comillas, Las Margaritas, Comalapa and Ocosingo, and there are also barracks in Palenque and Pichucalco, while in the 31st Military Zone there are barracks in Villaflores, Cintalapa and Chiapa de Corzo.

For more information in Spanish:

Para 2022, Guardia Nacional tendrá 24 cuarteles en Chiapas, (ChiapasParalelo, 9 de junio de 2020)

Construirán 8 cuarteles de la GN en Chiapas, (CuartoPoder, 11 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ. 

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears (March 30, 2020)

 

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard (January 21, 2020)

National: Four Members of National Guard Die in Guerrero and Chiapas (October 7, 2019)

International/National: UNO Calls for Evaluation of National Guard as Migratory Control in Mexico (September 2, 2019)

National: National Guard Secondary Laws Passed; Concerns over Human Rights Continue (May 28, 2019)

For more information in Spanish:

Para 2022, Guardia Nacional tendrá 24 cuarteles en Chiapas, (ChiapasParalelo, 9 de junio de 2020)

Construirán 8 cuarteles de la GN en Chiapas, (CuartoPoder, 11 de junio de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ. 

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears (March 30, 2020)

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard (January 21, 2020)

National: Four Members of National Guard Die in Guerrero and Chiapas (October 7, 2019)

International/National: UNO Calls for Evaluation of National Guard as Migratory Control in Mexico (September 2, 2019)

National: National Guard Secondary Laws Passed; Concerns over Human Rights Continue (May 28, 2019)

 

Chiapas: “ Not Only COVID Threatens Life” – Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society

@Radio Pozol

On April 22nd, within the framework of the monthly commemoration of the Acteal massacre, Chenalho municipality, in which 45 people died in December 1997, the Civil Society Organization issued a statement in which it denounced that the context of the pandemic due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the “official plea to “stay home”, did not prevent feminicides from happening this month, it did not prevent violations of the human rights of migrants who cross our country; forced displacement continued in the case of Aldama, Chiapas, fellow Tsotsil Cristobal Santiz de Aldama was unjustly imprisoned.”

It warned that, in this same context, “what neoliberal governments have done together with the powerful in both Mexico and Latin America, is to take advantage of the COVID-19 emergency, for example they have made laws to reduce sentences in favor of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, as in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Guatemala.”

It also denounced that, in Mexico, the government “has taken advantage of the pandemic to advance the construction of its “Maya Train”, despite the fact that hundreds of social organizations and indigenous communities demand to cancel it.”

For this reason, Las Abejas considered that the Covid-19 virus “is not life-threatening”. “It is useless for us to take care of the malignant disease if there are people who continue to be manipulated by the caciques and politicians who only think of their own interests and monetary gains at the cost of innocent lives,” they added.

Finally, they proposed that “this health situation we are going through is a message that makes us talk and think with our hearts and leads us to carry out new and healthy actions for us humans and for Mother Earth; because the way of life that the neoliberal capitalist system and colonialism have imposed on us, is useless, it is rubbish.”

For more information in Spanish:

«No sólo el Covid-19 amenaza la vida» (Sociedad Civil Las Abejas de Acteal, 22 de abril de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: Las Abejas Civil Society Denounces Persecution and Murder of Human Rights Defenders and Protectors of Mother Earth and other Violent Situations (February 25, 2020)

 

Chiapas: “This year begins with a lot of violence and it is increasing” – Las Abejas de Acteal Civil Society (January 28, 2020)

Chiapas: Las Abejas de Acteal Hold Commenoration 22 Years after Acteal Masacre (January 13, 2020)

Chiapas: Organizations Demand Respect for People’s Rights

@Frayba

A number of networks and social and civil organizations in Chiapas spoke out in favor of full respect for human rights and for life in a document published on April 20th, seeking to “share information, analyze and generate strategies to jointly face this pandemic COVID 19.”

The statement recalled that “we are in a state that has lived historically and in a particular way exclusion and marginalization, and in contrast with a tremendous organizational power resulting from its long history of struggle and resistance. The pandemic we are experiencing today reiterates that capitalist forms of production, in which violence, inequality and dispossession predominate, make the means for the reproduction of life precarious and diminish the possibility of living a dignified life.”

The signatories asked the three levels of government: “to attend to the social determinations of the pandemic that place the migrant population, boys and girls working in the street, residents of urban peripheries, people in detention, precarious workers as sectors with greater vulnerability to contagion, timely diagnosis and access to treatment.”

In the case of the indigenous peoples, they also demanded “to fully respect the exercise of their right to autonomy and their own models of health care in their territories”, “historical strategies” that are based on the framework of the San Andres Accords , the second article of the Constitution and international instruments such as Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The health emergency “highlights the dismantling of public health systems resulting from the capitalist model and the subordination of people’s health to a model that serves the market and the developmental option as the only valid indicator”, they denounced.

Lastly, they urged that “under no circumstances should force be applied by the police and military forces for the purpose of containing the population that may incur illegal actions and violations of the human rights of the people”, even using the argument of avoiding Covid-19 infections.

For more information in Spanish:

Pronunciamiento conjunto por la vida, Frayba, 20 de abril de 2020

Video:Programa especial sobre Chiapas frente al Covid-19, Rompeviento, 20 de abril de2020

ONG de Chiapas piden al gobierno no reprimir gente por el Covid-19, La Jornada, 20 de abril de 2020

For more information from SIPAZ:

Guerrero/International: Difficult Situation for Migrants and farm Workers Who Are Stuck or Want to Go Back (April 22, 2020)

 

National/International: HRW Asks Mexico for “Immediate” Release of All Detained Immigrants Due to Coronavirus (April 19, 2020)

 

Chiapas: Indigenous Zoque Commits Suicide in Ocosingo after Testing Positive for Covid-19 (April 16, 2020)

 

National: Organitions Denounce Health Neglect in Open Letter to AMLO (April 16, 2020)

National/International: HRW Asks Mexico for “Immediate” Release of All Detained Immigrants Due to Coronavirus

@ INM

In a bulletin published on April 14th, the international organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) asked Mexico for the “immediate release of migrants if they can no longer be deported to their countries of origin or if they are in arbitrary detention,” given the border closures and to prevent outbreaks of coronavirus (Covid-19) in detention centers.

HRW considered that this measure is “crucial to reduce the risk faced by migrants in detention centers that are not in a position to prevent the transmission of the new coronavirus.”

It denounced that “thousands of migrants are being held in Mexico in inhumane and unhealthy conditions, amid a global pandemic” so it is not surprising that since March 23rd “people detained in five migrant detention centers in Mexico have started protests and they have demanded to be released” for fear of contracting COVID-19. The protests have provoked “clashes in which there were dozens of wounded and at least one dead; in some cases, the migrants reported that security officials made excessive use of force”, it added.

“In order to stop the spread of COVID-19 inside and outside Mexican detention centers, it is absolutely imperative that the Mexican government act immediately to free or find alternatives to detention for all those migrants to whom it cannot repatriate, at least for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic”, it stressed.

“President Lopez Obrador cannot maintain that his government respects the human rights of the ‘migrant brothers’ and, at the same time, put into practice policies that manifestly violate the international legal obligations assumed by Mexico to protect the human rights of migrants. This shows an absolute disregard for their health and dignity”, HRW stated.

For more information in Spanish:

México debe liberar a los migrantes detenidos en el contexto de la pandemia (HRW, 14 de abril de 2020)

México debe liberar a migrantes detenidos para prevenir Covid-19: HRW (Aristegui Noticias, 15 de abril de 2020)

Mantener privados de la libertad a migrantes “demuestra desprecio por su salud y dignidad”: HRW (Proceso, 15 de abril de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

National: Migrant Dies in Protest at Migrant Center in Tabasco; INM Blamed (April 5, 2020)

International/National: USA Closes Southern Border to Asylum Seekers Due to Coronavirus (March 25, 2020)

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears (March 30, 2020)

National: Migrant Dies in Protest at Migrant Center in Tabasco; INM Blamed

@Cuartoscuro

On March 31st, just before 8:00 p.m., a small group of migrants at “La 72” migrant shelter in Tenosique, Tabasco, began a protest to denounce the fact that they are unable to advance from their current whereabouts or return to their country of origin due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the riot one of the protesters set fire a mattress in one of the cells to draw attention to their demands. As a result, an asylum seeker from Guatemala lost his life and 14 other people were injured. According to witnesses, the National Guard and the State Police who were present complicated the evacuation of the migrants during the fire, refusing to open the cells and detaining them at the main entrance to prevent their flight. There were no more injuries because some migrants intervened and forced doors.

The National Institute of Migration (INM) for its part reported that “with the support of members of the National Guard and the Auxiliary, Banking, Industrial and Commercial Police assigned to the center, as well as state Civil Protection personnel, priority was given to eviction of said foreign persons to safeguard their physical integrity.”

“La 72” refuge denounced that “the death that occurred last night at the Tenosique Migration Center is the direct responsibility of the National Institute of Migration (INM) and its highest official, Francisco Garduño Yáñez, who did not want to attend to the roots of the protests in the Tapachula and Villahermosa Migration Centers the last week, and which already foreshadowed a possible tragedy.”

It should be recalled that the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) had expressed its “concern” about the “increase in people in the context of migration housed in migratory stations and provisional stays of the National Institute of Migration (INM)” a week earlier and had made a call for urgent actions to reduce overcrowding and a massive spread of coronavirus among migrants.

For more information in Spanish:

Muerte de migrante en Tabasco fue por la falta de acciones del INM: La 72 (Conexión Migrante el 1 de abril de 2020)

Los migrantes en México piden acciones ante el riesgo de contagio de coronavirus (Noticias Telemundo el 1 de abril de 2020)

Investigan muerte de solicitante de asilo en incendio; albergue La 72 responsabiliza al INM (Animal Político el 1 de abril de 2020)

Denuncian la muerte de un migrante en centro de detención de Tenosique (Proceso el 1 de abril de 2020)

Día 11: muerte en Tenosique (Milenio el 2 de abril de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears (March 30, 2020)

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard (January 21, 2020)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

Chiapas: National Guard and Police Oppression of Migrants Protesting over COVID-19 Fears

@Conexion Migrante

On March 23rd, between 50 and 70 migrants, mainly from Central American countries, clashed with Federal Police and National Guard agents inside the Siglo XXI Migration Center in Tapachula.

Given the worldwide spread of COVID-19, Guatemala closed its borders on March 17th and asked Mexico to end the deportations of Central American migrants. For this reason, many find themselves unable to return to their countries of origin or continue their journey through Mexico to the United States. They are trapped in Tapachula.

In addition to that, at least two shelters on the border between Guatemala and Mexico stopped their service due to the pandemic meaning that migrants who have not been detained by elements of the National Guard are in a high risk situation as they have no place of refuge.

Information on the events of last Monday at the immigration station was obtained through interviews with witnesses and victims.

They reported that there was a protest by a group of migrants in the courtyard of the men’s module at around 5 pm to express their fear in the context of COVID-19 and demand their release or return to their countries of origin. Previously, they had repeatedly denounced the conditions in the migration station, which has severe overcrowding, food and water shortages, and limited medical care.

In response to the protest, a brigade of Federal Police and some 20 National Guard agents entered, who dispersed the group using pepper spray and water jets. According to what was documented by the Human Rights Observation and Monitoring Collective, they dragged the protesters to the bathrooms, a place without surveillance cameras, to punish them with kicks and punches, as well as Taser devices for electric shocks.

They then led people by bus to an unknown location. “It is urgent to find out how many people were removed from the Migration Center, where they are and what the current physical and mental health situation is,” said Conexion Migrante.

In a statement, the Collective for Observation and Monitoring of Human Rights in Southeast Mexico and the Driving Group against Immigration Detention and Torture expressed that they condemn “energetically all acts of violence and the use of disproportionate force against people, men, women and adolescents in immigration detention.” They demand “that the facts be clarified, those responsible be punished and that the physical and mental integrity of all persons who are in immigration detention or other forms of deprivation of liberty be guaranteed.”

They also pointed out that according to Article 1 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment “the term ‘torture’ shall be understood as any act by which serious pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted on a person; whether physical or mental, in order to obtain information or a confession from her or from a third party.”

For its part, the National Institute of Migration (INM) published a statement stating that “it seeks to implement actions so that migrants of Central American origin, housed in migratory centers and provisional stays of the institute, can return safely to their places of origin.”

For more information in Spanish:

Comunicado de las organizaciones de derechos de migrantes (25 de marzo de 2020)

Guardia Nacional reprime violentamente protesta de migrantes en Tapachula, Chiapas (Conexión Migrante el 25 de marzo de 2020)

Activistas mexicanos denuncian violencia contra inmigrantes que protestan por temor a coronavirus (Infobae el 26 de marzo de 2020)

Migrantes quedan atrapados en México por COVID-19 (Chiapasparalelo el 25 de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard (January 21, 2020)

Chiapas: Migration Authorities Stop Migrant Caravan in Tapachula (October 17, 2019)

Chiapas: African Migrants Clash with National Guard in Tapachula

(October 8, 2019)

International/National: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ends Mexican Visit while African Migrants Protest in Tapachula (October 7, 2019)

Chiapas: Federal Police Attack Migrants and Journalists at Migration Center in Tapachula (September 2, 2019)

Chiapas/National/International: Human Rights Organizations Demand End to Child and Adolescent Migrant Detentions (May 26, 2019)

National/International: CNDH Requests Special Measures for Migrants (May 8, 2019)

International/National: USA Closes Southern Border to Asylum Seekers Due to Coronavirus

@New York Times

On March 24th, the United States government closed access to any asylum application on its border with Mexico. According to the New York Times, analysts say this is the first time since the current asylum system began that the United States has closed the asylum program on its border.

The US government has also postponed appointments for asylum seekers, who are thousands waiting in Mexico, some for months. In addition, the government has announced that all foreigners found crossing the Mexican border without documents will be returned to Mexico.

One justification given for returning everyone to Mexico is that there are many people in detention centers in the United States, and that if someone with coronavirus enters, it could quickly spread inside. On the Mexican side of the border, there is also a coronavirus-related health risk for migrants.

In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, where there are more than 1,300 migrants from various countries in shelters, there is concern regarding coronavirus for migrants who are waiting there, not only because they are a transitional group by definition, but also because they have underlying health issues, and because there is a lack of personal space, basic cleaning supplies and personal care.

Critics of the Trump government accuse him of taking advantage of the cornavirus pandemic to intensify his anti-immigration policies, while the people of the country are preoccupied with their own economic and health concerns.

For more information in Spanish:

El cierre de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México frustra la esperanza de los solicitantes de asilo New York Times, 23 de marzo de 2020.

Migrantes, desamparados frente al coronavirus Educa, 23 de marzo de 2020.

EEUU pospone todas las audiencias de solicitantes de asilo devueltos a México debido al coronavirus Univision, 24 de marzo de 2020.

For more information from SIPAZ:

National/International: Mexico and US Reevaluate Migration Agreement after Three Months; Disagreement over Desired Outcomes (September 23, 2019)

Nacional/Internacional: Acuerdo sobre migración entre EUA y México cancela imposición de aranceles al segundo (June 8,2019).

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

Chiapas: Acts of Violence and Xenophobia against Migrants Expelled by Residents of Pakal-Na Condemned

Photo @ Expansion

On March 3rd, residents of Pakal-Na, in the municipality of Palenque, “blocked the access road to Palenque airport for several hours to demand the closure of the provisional migrant station, located in the facilities of the Livestock Market.” On the same day, a group of inhabitants expelled and then burned the belongings of the migrants housed in the Livestock Market claiming that they are responsible for the increase in insecurity in the area.

Chiapas Paralelo newspaper reported in this regard that “the immigration containment policy has led in recent months to hundreds of migrants unable to continue their journey, concentrate in the Pakal-Na area and other regions of Chiapas. A group of them, just over 100, were concentrated by the Chiapas and federal authorities in the Livestock Market. These migrants would be able to work on the programs offered by the federal government.”

The arrival of these migrants is not something new for the Pakal-Na locality, since migrants have been concentrated in the area for some time “because the train station used by migrants arriving in the area to continue their trip to the north of the country is there.”

Given what happened, the National Commission to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Mexico (UNHCHR-Mexico) and the National Migration Institute (INM) condemned the acts of violence and xenophobic expressions against refugees and migrants that occurred on Tuesday in Palenque.

For more information in Spanish:

Rechaza Acnur violencia contra refugiados ocurrida en Palenque (La Jornada, 3 de marzo de 2020)

Migrantes en Palenque, afectados por xenofobia (Chiapas Paralelo, 3 de marzo de 2020)

Condenan agresión a migrantes y refugiados en Palenque (Chiapas Paralelo, 3 de marzo de 2020)

For more information from SIPAZ:

Chiapas/International: Caravan of 4,000 Reaches Southern Border – Stopped by National Guard (January 21, 2020)

National/Chiapas: CNDH Asks INM and COMAR for Precautionary Measures for 78 People Stranded in Tapachula (January 16, 2020)

National: Migrants and Civil Organizations Demand that Mexican Government Respects and Protects Migrant Rights to Mark International Migrants Day (January 4, 2020)