December 10, 2007
Abuse
of Migrants Denounced by Northern Mexico Church-run Shelter Network
Frontera
NorteSur
Meeting in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo
in early December, providers of migrant emergency services called on Mexican and US authorities to show greater respect for
the human rights of migrants. The meeting brought together representatives of 14 Roman Catholic Church-supported Casas del
Migrante, or migrant houses, located in northern Mexico. Strung along the migrant trail, the houses are established as a refuge
for migrants deported from the United States or experiencing other crises.
Francisco Pellizari, director of Nuevo Laredo's
Casa del Migrante, said the church-supported institutions help many migrants who've been robbed, kidnapped, beaten and humiliated.
Although Pellizari described the shelters as sanctuaries, he said his co-workers confront attempts by unscrupulous individuals
to victimize migrants. "Like the one in Nuevo Laredo, Casas del Migrante are constantly accosted by human traffickers who
try to take advantage of the migrants," Pellizari said.
Attending the Nuevo Laredo gathering, Coahuila Bishop
Raul Vera recounted how he’d personally witnessed violence against migrants in his city of Saltillo. "I have seen the
deaths of at least three migrants, as well as the abuses and affronts they suffer in this city," Bishop Vera said.
In
2007, some migrant shelters have registered a dramatic demand for their services. By September of this year, the local Casa
del Migrante in Ciudad Juarez began taking in three times the number of migrants it was accustomed to receiving. "We were
used to having 8 or 10 people before, "said Jose Barrios, the shelter's director, earlier this fall.” Now as many as
30 people a week are arriving, especially on Tuesdays and Fridays." While staying at Ciudad Juarez's Casa del Migrante, guests
receive food and shelter, search for work, and hear talks about the human rights of migrants.
Barrios attributed the
surge in demand for emergency services to a decision by Mexican and US authorities this year to channel many deportees through
El Paso-Ciudad Juarez. According to statistics from Mexico's National Migration Institute quoted in the Mexican press, 73,216
people were deported from the United States to the state of Chihuahua between the months of January and September of this
year.
At the three-day meeting in Nuevo Laredo, human rights specialists and experts from the Autonomous Technological
Institute of Mexico gave training to Casa del Migrante representatives as part of the network's plan to expand human rights
offices at its shelters. The attendees signed a letter addressed to Mexican and US authorities that urges an end to the ill
treatment of migrants. Participating
in the gathering were Casa del Migrante representatives from the Mexican cities of Tijuana, Agua Prieta, Ciudad Juarez, Reynosa,
Altar, Nuevo Laredo, Monterrey, Tampico, Saltillo, Ciudad Acuņa, and Ensenada.
Sources: Enlineadirecta.info,
December 5, 2007. Articles by Gaston Monge. El Diario de Juarez, October 13, 2007.
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Frontera
NorteSur (FNS)
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, New Mexico
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(Reprinted with authorization from Frontera NorteSur,
a free, on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news source. FNS can be found at http://frontera.nmsu.edu/)
Translation FNS
