- Title: Migrants depart southern Mexico in caravan to protest slow asylum process
- Date: 29th August 2021
- Summary: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO (AUGUST 28, 2021) (REUTERS) MIGRANTS ON THE TAPACHULA - HUIXTLA, CHIAPAS HIGHWAY, CARRYING A BLANKET READING: (Spanish) ''SR PRESIDENT TAPACHULA MIGRATORY PRISON" VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS WALKING ALONG HIGHWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) 31-YEAR-OLD COLOMBIAN WHO SPENT THREE MONTHS IN TAPACHULA, CARLOS CORREA, SAYING: ''The truth is we are already tired of staying here in Tapachula. The COMAR (Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance) will not get back to us and won't give us appointments until January or February. The UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) is no longer helping us. We can't survive in Tapachula. We are asking the government of Mexico to please create a humanitarian corridor for us so we can travel to the (U.S.) border.'' CARAVAN RESTING UNDER SHADE OF TREE YOUNG MIGRANT MOTHER WITH HER BABY MIGRANTS WALKING ALONG HIGHWAY POLICEMAN TALKING TO EXHAUSTED MIGRANT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) NICARAGUAN MIGRANT, CRISTIAN GALEANO, SAYING: "God has you in his power so that you can govern the people and help us, not take advantage of us, do not to steal the little misery that we have. If we could live in our countries, we would not have come. If we were not oppressed, we would have not come from our countries. As you can see, most are young, poor people, people in need. We only want to work, we don't want to be a burden on anyone. We want to work. But we are told (by migration officials in Tapachula) that we have to wait from two to three months so that we are given a document that allows us to work.'' BOY CARRYING A FLAG VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS MARCHING ON HIGHWAY
- Embargoed: 12th September 2021 07:45
- Keywords: Mexico asylum seekers caravan of migrants masse security forces southern Mexican city of Tapachula
- Location: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
- City: TAPACHULA, CHIAPAS, MEXICO
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,South America / Central America,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001ESC0WG7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Mexico has deployed hundreds of security forces to head off a caravan of migrants and asylum seekers who departed the southern Mexican city of Tapachula en masse on Saturday (August 28) in efforts to reach the Mexican capital, where they hoped to seek expedited asylum proceedings.
The majority of the approximately 500 people in the caravan hailed from Haiti, Cuba, Central America, and Colombia. As of Saturday evening, they had advanced about 20 miles north of Tapachula.
For days, migrants in Tapachula have been staging protests to demand their cases be expedited so they could leave the southern state and relocate to other parts of Mexico or head to the U.S. border without risking deportation, according to local news reports.
"We can't survive in Tapachula," said Colombian migrant Carlos Correa, 31, who said he joined the caravan on Saturday after waiting for three months without receiving a response to his asylum application.
Under Mexican law, migrants must remain in the state where they sought asylum until their cases are resolved, a process that can take months or years.
Mexico is facing mounting pressure from Washington to take steps to curtail U.S.-bound immigration. In recent weeks, the Mexican government has sent thousands of migrants to southern Mexico by plane, where they are transported by bus to the Guatemalan border.
(Production: Jose Torres, Roberto Ramirez, Rodolfo Pena Roja, Geraldine Downer) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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