jessica xanthomila
Newspaper La Jornada
Saturday January 21, 2023, p. eleven
Outside the offices of the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Comar), on Versalles Street, migrants seeking to obtain a temporary permit or a humanitarian visa continue to stay overnight. Although there are not many people who are there, as happened at the beginning of the month, they indicated that they need to stay in the immediate vicinity because it continues the disorganization
To be served.
A young Afghan woman –who asked not to be named–, accompanied by her brothers, shared that she has been sleeping near the Comar gate for three nights, among a few blankets and suitcases.
He indicated that although every morning among the migrants a line is organized and a list is made to respect their turn, it does not always happen. She was number 15 yesterday and failed to be received.
In part, he pointed out, this is because other people arrive and get in line or say they have an appointment, so others are delayed.
Yesterday, because the Comar received just over 140 people, priority was given to those who came with children.
Neither the woman nor her brothers speak Spanish, so, she mentioned, the language has also been a problem, since she is the only one who knows English, while her relatives try to communicate using translation applications on their cell phones.
On a tour, another woman, originally from the Dominican Republic, lamented that there is no better care for them. She said that she got number 45 in line, but she couldn’t get into the Comar. To get here early, she detailed herself, I had to rent a room in a hotel
close.
She narrated that she was forced to leave her country because her ex-boyfriend abused her; also, because she could not find work.
For its part, the Comar reported that the indication that has been given is that they do not stay the night, since it is not a guarantee that they will go to the offices, since vulnerable cases are detected and treated first, such as pregnant women, older adults and children.
In addition, he indicated that a big number
of those who spend the night and they have been waiting for days to pass, they have erroneous information about what the commission is doing. When asked, they say that they come for an immigration document that allows them to transit through Mexico, when that is not our responsibility.
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