Arturo Sánchez, Carolina Gómez, Georgina Saldierna, Jessica Xantomila and Jared Laureles
La Jornada newspaper
Saturday, December 11, 2021, p. 4
Pope Francis, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, as well as other international and national human rights defenders, expressed their regret at the outcome of the dramatic road accident that occurred in Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, which charged the life of 55 Central American migrants, who were trying to reach the United States.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stressed that the crossing of the border between Mexico and the United States has been the most lethal migration route in 2021, since at least 650 undocumented people died while trying to reach the United States. It’s the highest annual figure since that agency began documenting deaths in 2014.
The IOM has registered 5,755 deaths due to migratory travel in Central America, North America and the Caribbean in the last six years. The recent tragedy in Chiapas exposes the risks that exist daily for thousands of people seeking a better life outside their communities of origin. We can do more for them and they
.
The UN Secretary General expressed horror upon learning of the death of the 55 Central Americans and said that everyone who seeks a better life deserves security and dignity
. Likewise, the International Labor Organization (ILO) expressed its deep sadness at the tragedy
.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations considered that this painful event should be a call to rethink the migration strategy containment
, as it is what has led these people to seek other alternatives to reach the north of the country.
The Center for Human Dignification, the Office of the Jesuit Refugee Service Mexico and Training and Training AC, these last two members of the Collective Observation and Monitoring of Human Rights in the Mexican Southeast, also highlighted that human trafficking through trailers it is a recurring practice
, characterized by conditions inhumane
of transfers.
At the 39th plenary meeting of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean (Copppal), where a minute of silence was observed due to the tragedy, the leader of the PRI, Alejandro Moreno, called on the international community to stop the mistreatment of migrants and at least offer them guarantees in their transit. In an interview, he asked the government to work on the phenomenon, because the current policy is not giving results.
Separately, the PRI coordinator in the Chamber of Deputies, Rubén Moreira, requested the appearance of the immigration authorities in the face of the tragedy that occurred in Chiapas, since, he said, it is a consequence of bad policy by Mexico and the world, while the PAN He demanded that the abuses of officials be put to an end and strategies that drive the undocumented into inhumane situations be fought.
The Pope, in a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Fabio Martínez Castilla, said he was deeply sorry for the death of the migrants, expressed regret to the families of the victims and said that he prays for the eternal rest of the deceased.
