Human trafficking, one of the main causes of thousands of deaths on the border

Victor Ballinas and Andrea Becerril

Newspaper La Jornada
Friday, July 1, 2022, p. 9

The national states have to assume their co-responsibility to guarantee that tragedies such as those that recently occurred on the border between Spain and Morocco, which caused the death of at least 23 migrants, and in Texas, United States, where more than 50 Mexicans and Central Americans suffocated to death in a trailer, highlighted Édgar Corzo Sosa upon receiving the recognition granted by the Senate for his appointment as chairman of the chairmen of the nine committees and a subcommittee on human rights of the United Nations (UN).

in front of those great challenges and unfortunate newshe indicated, it is necessary to establish guarantees for non-repetition. It is not about a single State, but about the cooperation of the international community to find solutions to problems that derive from hunger and violencehe stressed.

Corzo, the first Mexican to hold that position in the UN, stressed that one of the worrying issues that arises from these events is the trade that occurs with the transfer of people with pressing needs and who seek to achieve a better life in a different place. to that of its origin.

Trafficking in persons has become one of the most worrying causes of the death of migrants and, therefore, I am of the opinion that it should be an issue on the agenda of governments, in which the highest degree is required international cooperationhighlighted in his speech in the Senate.

The ceremony, which was held in the session room of that chamber, was attended by senators and representatives of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Mexico (UNHCR) and the Superior Agrarian Court, and at the request of the honoree, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the thousands of migrants who lose their lives every year in the world for seeking better living conditions.

Corzo Sosa is also president of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers. In the country he served, among other positions, as the fifth inspector general of the National Human Rights Commission, which was in charge of the issue of migrants and grievances against journalists and human rights defenders.

Giovanni Lepri, UNHCR representative in Mexico, highlighted in a separate interview that there is a responsibility of governments and society. Every day in that region (Mexico-United States border) and in the world, migrants who leave their countries due to hunger and violence die. Legal channels must be found so that they do not take risks and lose their lives.

“There is a responsibility of governments and society to really understand that this phenomenon is not going to stop; it is not a question of whether or not we want people to migrate: people move.

But the question is whether more can be done to respond and reduce the risks. And yes, more can be done: the Summit of the Americas, which ended a little over a month ago, opened some lines towards this regulation of the movements of people and the search for alternatives, but they are small steps compared to the magnitude of the phenomenon.