Damning report claims Mexico failing to protect migrants

Record ID: 904315

  • Title: Damning report claims Mexico failing to protect migrants
  • Date: 27th July 2017
  • Summary: MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF PANEL AT NEWS CONFERENCE MADE UP OF OFFICIALS FROM THE WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA (WOLA) MAN IN AUDIENCE FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE WITH HIS PHONE WOLA OFFICIALS HOLDING UP REPORT ON MIGRANT SITUATION IN MEXICO CLOSE-UP OF REPORT WITH TITLE THAT READS (Spanish) "ACCESS TO JUSTICE IN MEXICO FOR MIGRANTS: A RIGHT THAT ONLY EXISTS ON PAPER" OFFICIALS GATHERING DOCUMENTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE PANEL AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN COORDINATOR FOR THE WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA (WOLA), XIMENA SUAREZ, SAYING: "Migrants who travel through Mexico have faced serious violence which has gotten worse in recent years. We have seen migrants who have been kidnapped, who are missing and regular aggression from public servants. We also found that crimes and aggressions of this type are not reported or not investigated." AUDIENCE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEXICAN COORDINATOR FOR THE WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA (WOLA), XIMENA SUAREZ, SAYING: "We have found that Mexican authorities lack the will to investigate crimes and human rights violations against migrants. We find that a very common response from them is that if migrants don't stay where the complaint is filed then they can't follow up with an investigation." GENERAL VIEW OF AUDIENCE AT NEWS CONFERENCE PANEL BEFORE MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SENIOR ASSOCIATE AT THE WASHINGTON OFFICE ON LATIN AMERICA (WOLA), MAUREEN MEYER, SAYING: "It is essential that the Mexican government pays more attention to not only protecting Mexicans outside the country and demanding that they be respected, which is something we do as a body in the United States, that is demand that migrant rights be respected. But the Mexican government must look at the situation in its own country and fight to ensure that these victims have access to justice and investigate crimes committed against them (migrants)." PANELLISTS GETTING UP AT END OF NEWS CONFERENCE AND WALKING OFF STAGE
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2017 22:02
  • Keywords: enforcement USA Central America Washington Office on Latin America impunity crime migrants report Mexico protection
  • Location: MEXICO CITY; ARRIAGA, CHIAPAS; UNION HIDALGO, OAXACA; IXTEPEC, OAXACA; CADEREYTA, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO
  • City: MEXICO CITY; ARRIAGA, CHIAPAS; UNION HIDALGO, OAXACA; IXTEPEC, OAXACA; CADEREYTA, NUEVO LEON, MEXICO
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016RHUHC3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A report compiled by a Washington-based NGO on the plight of migrants has turned its focus to Mexico and called for greater protection for those crossing the Latin American country towards the United States amidst a reported uptake in crime against those making the perilous journey north.
    At a Mexico City news conference, investigators from the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) presented a worrying picture on the vulnerability of migrants to kidnapping, human trafficking, acts of sexual violence and even homicides in Mexico. The report entitled "Access to Justice in Mexico for Migrants: A Right that Only Exists on Paper" claims that there is a 99% impunity rate in crimes associated with migrants. Of the nearly 6,000 complaints brought by migrants to Mexican police since 2014, only 49 have resulted in a conviction.
    In recent months Mexico has stepped up criticism of President Donald Trump's clampdown on its citizens living abroad in the United States and introduced extra consular services for its expats north of the border. But WOLA called on Mexican authorities to also look closer to home and the plight of migrants in its own backyard.
    The country's raging drug war between rival cartels and the Mexican state has created a new front in the dangers facing migrants, leaving many migrants from Central America caught in the middle. In the sleepy Mexican town of Cadereyta close to Texas, 49 headless corpses of migrants were found in 2012. Investigators in Mexico blamed drug gangs seeking to recruit migrants for the bloodshed.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register