- Title: African migrants in Mexico protest during visit from U.N.'s refugee chief
- Date: 28th September 2019
- Summary: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO (SEPTEMBER 28, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF AFRICAN MIGRANTS PLEADING, PROTESTING AT CAR THAT IS TRANSPORTING U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, FILIPPO GRANDI GRANDI SITTING IN CAR VARIOUS OF PROTESTER FACING OFF WITH OFFICER AND HOLDING HIS SON PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND CAR WITH GRANDI INSIDE GRANDI ARRIVING AT FACILITY TO BE USED BY THE UNITED NATIONS PEOPLE AT EVENT TO INAUGURATE U.N. CENTRE GRANDI AT EVENT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, FILIPPO GRANDI, SAYING: "We have a situation that has seen the violation of human rights, of abuses, of violence, of discrimination. Everyday we hear dramatic stories and the number (of cases) isn't going down, it's going up. Mexico's role, as we say at the UNHCR, is to provide protection for people who have lost protection from their countries. That is fundamental." GRANDI CUTTING RIBBON AT CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, FILIPPO GRANDI, SAYING: "This process (for applying for asylum) is a little complex but there are many measures to reduce (bureaucracy) without impacting on the rights of those calling for asylum." VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS PROTESTING OUTSIDE U.N. FACILITY POLICE ON DUTY NEAR PROTESTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CONGOLESE MIGRANT, NATASHA, SAYING: "We don't want anything. We just want to continue on along our paths. We want to continue north. We don't need anything from Mexico, nothing. We don't need anything. We want to continue on our journeys." MIGRANTS SINGING AS PART OF PROTEST NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS ON DUTY VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS AT PROTEST ON THE STREET OFFICER ON DUTY NEAR MIGRANTS
- Embargoed: 12th October 2019 21:56
- Keywords: migrants Mexico Tapachula United Nations Filippo Grandi The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Location: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
- City: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYKM5AF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: African migrants in limbo near Mexico's southern border protested during a visit from the U.N.'s refugee chief on Saturday (September 28), speaking out against their living conditions in migrant camps in the border city of Tapachula.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi was visiting Tapachula on Saturday to inaugurate a new United Nations centre to help register and look after migrants in Mexico's southern border area.
Every year thousands of people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, some of the world's most impoverished and violent nations, head north in search of a better life. Now, an increasing number of Africans are joining them with the aim of reaching the United States.
The number of Africans registered by Mexican authorities tripled in the first four months of 2019 compared with the same period a year ago, reaching about 1,900 people, mostly from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which remains deeply unstable years after the end of a bloody regional conflict with its neighbours that led to the deaths of millions of people.
It comes as the United States slashes its intake for refugees. The Trump administration this week announced plans to allow only 18,000 refugees to resettle in the United States in the 2020 fiscal year, the lowest number in the history of the modern refugee programme.
Tougher measures from Mexico, under pressure from the United States, has seen many migrants stuck at the border, refused passage northwards through Mexico.
(Production: Josue Gonzalez, Rodolfo Pena Rojas) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None