Migrants sewed their lips to demand the delivery of humanitarian visas

Migrants who have been stranded in the Chiapas city of Tapachula for weeks, even months, once again protested in a shocking way, as a way to pressure the authorities to hand over documents that allow them to travel freely through Mexico, in order to reach the United States, in where they intend to seek asylum.

Seven migrants of Central and South American origin, who left this Friday in the caravan called “Migrant Way of the Cross”, sewed their lips with a needle and thread, while warning that from that moment on, every hour a group of people inside the caravan, second so far this year, will reply the action.

Venezuelan Edwin Camacho warned that they will maintain their protest of suturing their lips until their requests to obtain legal status in the country are echoed and if they fail to do so they will continue with that practice.

“We don't want problems and violence, we just want them to give us the step,” Camacho told Efe.

Meanwhile, compatriot Matías González, a native of Venezuela, asked the Government of Mexico to help them move forward because their goal is not to stay in the country.

“We asked for safe conduct to leave the city, as it has been difficult to follow our path (towards the United States),” he said.

Prior to this action, members of the migrant caravan went on hunger strike when they arrived in the community of Álvaro Obregón, after twice clashing with agents of the National Guard (NG) and immigration personnel in the city of Tapachula.

Federal authorities arrested nearly 200 migrants, including children and pregnant women, segmenting the caravan.

The situation is critical as the authorities of the National Institute of Migration (INM) maintain a checkpoint at the main entrance of the community to prevent them from leaving this village.

After arriving at the community, the migrants took refuge in the local church where, they said, they would stay as long as necessary, while the authorities carried out tours and operations to search and secure the foreigners who remain hidden around this community.

Alexander, a migrant from Venezuela, indicated that immigration authorities beat them to arrest them, so he asked that they be allowed to move forward since migrating is not a crime.

“We no longer want violence, all we ask is to pass freely,” he said.

On Friday, April 1, hundreds of migrants walked out of Tapachula, in order to reach Mexico City to regularize their immigration status, but as they went a few kilometers further they clashed with federal authorities.

This new convoy, called for its proximity to Holy Week as “the Migrant Way of the Cross”, left around 07:00 local time from this city bordering Guatemala, where thousands of migrants have been stranded for weeks and even months.

The contingent, made up of men, women and children, took their bags and set out through the streets of the city to the coastal highway of Chiapas to head towards the capital, more than a thousand kilometers away.

The region is experiencing a record flow to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) detected more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the Mexican border in fiscal year 2021, which ended September 30.

Mexico deported more than 114,000 foreigners in 2021, according to data from the Migration Policy Unit of the country's Ministry of the Interior.

In addition, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (Comar) received a record 131,448 refugee applications in 2021. Of these petitioners, more than 51,000 are Haitians.

This is the second migrant caravan of the year, after a first contingent of about 500 people who left last January but barely advanced about 20 kilometers under pressure from the authorities.

Last September, Mexican authorities thwarted the advance of four migrant caravans that left precisely from Tapachula.

Then, several UN agencies and NGOs criticized the use of force in the operations to disintegrate these caravans.

Another caravan, which walked for more than a month, arrived in Mexico City in mid-December.

EFE

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