Russians and Ukrainians from the United States visited their compatriots at the Tijuana border crossing

A group of Russians and Ukrainians living in the United States visited Tijuana, Baja California, this Friday to support the dozens of compatriots who have recently arrived in the border city to seek asylum from the war that their countries have been holding since February 24.

About 20 people, mostly young people attached to the Christian congregation The Good Samaritan, first arrived at the Agape World Mission shelter, with whom for more than 15 years they have worked together in humanitarian work.

They then moved to the border port of San Ysidro, where more than 30 people, mostly Russians, set up a small camp where they spent the night for a week, waiting to be able to enter the United States.

Adrey Danchuk, pastor of the Church of The Good Samaritan, located in Sacramento, California, shared with the refugees that: “We are here to offer them moral support in the face of the war that our countries are waging, we are brothers.”

He also regretted that they could not enter the United States to be taken into account as refugees. “Russian people are good people, the problem is not the people, nor the people, it is the leadership that is being exercised. Vladimir Putin is destroying our cities, our towns,” he said.

The pastor added that “it is very hard” that his people “are experiencing this, some people are hiding, others do not have enough to eat, that is what is happening” in his Ukrainian people, “war is terrible, but only God can change all this.”

A PLACE TO STAY

For his part, Albert Rivera, director of the Agape World Mission shelter, located to the west of Tijuana, shared that they are jointly looking for possibilities for refugees to obtain asylum and so that while they are in Tijuana they have the guarantees of safety and health.

One of the actions is that the Christian congregation will set up their home facilities so that they can send immigration appointments to court, a requirement that the US authorities ask them to, and where they can also receive them when they can enter.

On Thursday, Tijuana's Director of Migrant Care, Enrique Lucero Vázquez, visited the camp to let refugees know they couldn't be there and invited them to go to shelters or return to hotels.

The official expressed concern that the US authorities may close the pedestrian crossing due to internal security issues, because they are right in the place where hundreds of people cross daily for work, business and school activities.

He added that “everyone is welcome to Tijuana,” however, he said that it is important that they know that they cannot be there for their own safety and hygiene. “we know that in groups they feel safe, but they can all go to hostels together,” he explained.

According to figures from the Mexican Government, since February 24, when the invasion of Ukraine began, approximately 310 people have arrived in the border city of Tijuana from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, most of them by air and land from the cities of Cancun and Mexico City.

Figures from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) reported that between October 2021 and January of this year, corresponding to fiscal year 2022, some 6,400 Russians and 1,000 Ukrainians have crossed the border, representing an increase of 64 per cent for Russians and 68 per cent for Ukrainians, compared to the previous fiscal period.

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