During 2021, complaints of abuse of authority by Mexican authorities towards Colombians increased significantly. Citizens, through social networks and the media, commented on how by their nationality they were locked up in offices for days and questioned, in addition, they did not give them food guarantees or ideas to the bathroom.
Therefore, after difficulties and complaints, the Colombian Foreign Ministry reported on some developments that should be taken into account when traveling to Mexico, since in order to avoid the inconveniences suffered by some Colombians in Mexican territory, a previous electronic registration system will begin to be implemented from April 1.
“Thanks to the administration of Vice-President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez, who six months ago asked her Mexican counterpart, Marcelo Ebrard, to establish a preliminary procedure that would allow Colombians to avoid being inadmissible by the Aztec country's immigration authorities, starting on April 1, the operate an electronic pre-registration system”, said the institution.
According to the information, the countries decided to reach an agreement because many travelers lost not only their tickets, but the payment of stay and other investments they had made.
“In this way we prevent what has happened during the last year and a half from happening and that is that when they arrive in Mexico they are not admitted, they lose their hotel package, their tickets and all the effort that families had made to spend a few days of tourism in Mexico,” explained the vice president and foreign minister.
In order to complete the requirement, those interested in going to the Aztec country must fill out a form that will be available on the website of the National Institute of Migration of Mexico (Inami). In the format, Colombians will have to answer biographical questions related to their trip and stay, among others, in addition to attaching some documents.
After completing the entire process on the platform, Colombians will receive a QR code, which they must present to the airline they are traveling with in order to allow them to board the plane. Even later, flight companies will have to include it as part of the fundamental requirements for the traveler.
Remember that in addition to the form upon entry into Mexico, other requirements are: return ticket, hotel reservation or details of the people who will host them, as well as the economic capacity to pay for their stay.
Some allegations of Colombians assaulted at Mexico's Benito Juárez Airport
In March 2021, 24 nationals reported that, upon their arrival in the North American country, they were detained at Benito Juárez Airport under the argument “of the sovereign right that all countries have” and were not allowed to enter the country and returned them without any explanation.
The same happened to Andrés Leonardo Daza, a 25-year-old Colombian who, when he arrived at Benito Juárez Airport, was intercepted by two women, migrant workers.
The Santanderean was obliged to give them his passport, a document that the women checked thoroughly and then removed him from the queue and removed him from the other travelers. According to Andrés Leonardo, his papers were in order, and there was no reason to be removed, however, he assured that he agreed to leave with the women who required him. He assumed that this was a regular process with which he had to collaborate.
The young man was taken to a room, where eight other people were. There, he was forbidden to use his cell phone, ordered to fill out a form. Leonardo had to wait in that room while he was called for questioning.
Andrés Leonardo received a call from one of the migration officials, who began to ask several questions about his personal life and his reasons for being in Mexico, to which Leonardo responded without objection. The young man told El Tiempo that there were no justifiable reasons for him to be questioned for about 20 minutes by the authorities, and that he did not find reasons for the official to check his cell phone.
Despite the fact that Andrés considered that he had come out of there well, the official decided to refuse him entry to Mexico because, according to him, the Colombian did not meet the necessary requirements. From this point in the story, Andrés tells the Colombian newspaper, the situation became violent and inhuman.
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