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'We don't have food.' Migrants demand safe-passage permits in southern Mexico

Tuesday, 22 February 2022 7:13 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 22 February 2022 8:56 AM ]

Migrants protested outside Mexico's Migration Institute offices in the southern city of Tapachula demanding to get documents that will allow them to move through the country safely.

Migrants from Central America, South America, Haiti and Africa protested as the National Guard blocked their path.

Cuban migrant Nereida, who preferred not to give her last name due to safety concerns, told Reuters that last week migration officers had promised to serve a group of Venezuelan and Cuban migrants if they came back on Monday.

"We are all here and now they are telling us they won't see us. We don't have a home, we don't have food nor money. We are migrants," she added.

A common concern amongst many migrants is the lack of money. Haitian migrant Joel Delis who has been in Tapachula for several months said he has resorted to sleeping in the streets because he cannot afford to pay $221 for a room.

Tens of thousands of migrants flee their home countries each year in an attempt to reach the United States, but many of them also seek refuge and protection in Mexico.

In early February, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) urged immigration authorities to speed up the processes that would help nearly 2,000 migrants at the southern border get documents to regularize their stay in Mexico or let them travel through the country without being detained.

(Source: Reuters)

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