The Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center (CDHFMC) denounced the National Migration Institute (INM) for persecuting members of a migrant group walking along the Chiapas coast in an attempt to reach central and northern Mexico.
On Thursday, a failed attempt to form a caravan from Tapachula resulted in about fifty migrants embarking on the journey, carrying a banner that read “Caravan Guided by God.”
According to the human rights organization, the INM intercepted the group on the Tapachula-Huixtla highway, blocked their path with four vehicles, and forcibly detained two of its members.
“Upon realizing the situation, the caravan returned to support the detained individuals, who were then released and able to continue their journey,” the CDHFMC added.
He added that the small group “is made up of around 80 people, including six children. Most come from Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador), as well as the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Haiti.”
The organization elaborated that the migrants decided to leave the Guatemalan border due to the prolonged wait for their regularization processes, with some waiting up to two years “for eligibility interviews or after receiving negative rulings in their cases with the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar).”
They have even documented cases of migrants who report being denied registration at Comar.
“People in need of international protection not only face the strain caused by Comar, but are also exposed to corruption networks, immigration detention, and co-optation by criminal networks that profit from their situation,” the CDHFMC warned.
Therefore, they demanded that the INM cease the harassment and detention operations, and that the Comar guarantee asylum application processes without exclusions or discretion.
Source: jornada
