Haitian migrants attacked merchants and customers of a market in Tapachula

Around 20 Haitian migrants attacked merchants and customers outside a public market in the city of Tapachula and streets later set fire to a semi-fixed premises, as actions of rejection after the immigration authorities arrested three of their compatriots.

The arrest caused discomfort among Haitians, who began to set fire to a wooden chair, as well as plastic items and bars while demanding merchants and passers-by to continue their journey.

The angry foreigners threatened Mexican citizens to take away their mobile phones with which they tried to photograph or transmit the brawl and aggressions.

Due to the intensity of the fight, merchants from the Sebastián Escobar market, as well as in the surrounding area, decided to close their premises and withdraw from the place, as Haitians threatened to throw sticks and stones at businesses.

At the scene, a Haitian migrant chased a vendor with a stick and beat him twice. In addition, another migrant threw a piece of wood with fire at the merchants who were watching the incidents.

The violence caused other Haitians, who are engaged in trade in the area, to also have to leave the place to avoid falling victim to their compatriots.

Despite calls for help from merchants, agents of the National Guard and the State and Municipal Police did not arrive at the scene, leaving the population exposed to attacks by foreigners.

It should be recalled that at the beginning of last March, a group of migrants from Haiti and Africa staged another brawl that left some people injured, after they destroyed the offices of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Tapachula, to demand that they be handed over the migration documents that allow them to travel freely through Mexico to reach the border with the United States, where they intend to seek asylum.

The action, which caused numerous damages, led to the closure of the immigration office for several weeks.

About 5,000 Haitian migrants are stranded in Tapachula, who daily stand in long lines and crowds in front of immigration offices and who look desperate not to see their situation resolved.

The region is experiencing a record flow of migrants to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) detected more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the border with Mexico 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.

With information from EFE

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