Photo: GUILLERMO ARIAS / AFP / Getty Images
For: EFE
Tuesday, November 26
Migrants protest outside military barracks in Tijuana after cartel threats
More than u n hundred Central American and Haitian migrants , protested outside the military barracks in the border city of Tijuana (northern Mexico), demanding greater security since were been victims of criminal groups that operate around the shelters in which they have tried to take refuge.
Currently the city of Tijuana lives in the middle of a dispute between drug cartels, mainly the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, war that has left 82 deaths in December, and a total of 1, 873 so far from 2021, according to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR).
A young Honduran, who preferred to keep his identity anonymous, recounted how on Monday was accompanied I walk several migrant children in the courtyard of the Ágape shelter, when they were approached by armed men .
“We were there and suddenly a man arrives with a briefcase and takes out a long gun. There were children outside and he began to threaten us, we began to tell the children to ‘get in there’ “, he recalled.
The young man also said that they called the Municipal police, but upon arrival at the scene, several elements did not do “anything” about it, despite the fact that they saw videos that they recorded when they were threatened.
“The videos were seen by the police and they did nothing, it is a way of threatening us so that we are not there. The National Guard was told to come and see why the police did not do anything, “he said.
Alberto Rivera, leader of the Ágape shelter He commented that that day he called the State Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists with whom he has a relationship for this type of situation, but no federal authority was ever present.
“The control of command from Mexico is broken, it is assumed that from there they are giving the order to help those who are activists who are under the protocol (mechanism) of protection,” he mentioned .
“ The worst problem is that the rights of all shelters , because they do not provide security to us, but as they are public officials they do “, expressed annoyed Rivera.
The Ágape hostel is located in the Nueva Aurora neighborhood, an area of the city of Tijuana that was in the middle of several armed attacks due to the fight between cartels for drug outlets.
Currently Tijuana is going through a severe migration crisis , since migrant shelters are saturated and many of the newcomers or returnees have had to sleep in the streets of the city, under a climate of up to 4 degrees Celsius.
Mexico is experiencing one of the largest migratory waves in its history. From January to October, the country has intercepted 228, 115 people and deported others 80, 627, figures that had not been seen for more than 15 years.
Similarly, refugee claims have also broken records. From January to October, the country has received 108. 195 requests.
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