A new caravan with some 30 migrants, the eighth to form in southern Mexico during August, left this Wednesday afternoon from the city from Tapachula, bordering Guatemala, heading for the neighboring state of Oaxaca, under heavy rain.
The group of migrants left Tapachula and headed for the city of Oaxaca, capital of the state of the same name, which It has become the main point of arrival for foreigners to obtain their temporary permits.
Some migrants, including children, women and adults, used plastic bags, umbrellas, thermal sheets, cardboard and their own clothes to cover themselves from the intense rains that afflict the region.
This is the eighth caravan of migrants formed during August, whose members are seeking their temporary visas, since in the city of Tapachula, state of Chiapas, the authorities of the National Institute of Migration (INM) do not have the f Formats of the Multiple Migratory Forms (FMM) for migrants to carry out their procedures.
Due to this, the only and closest option they have to arrive by their own means is Oaxaca.
“We are not criminals, we are working people!” the migrants shouted during their departure, which took place from the central park of Tapachula, to head for the Tapachula-Tepanatepec highway, Oaxaca.
Migrants, including from countries such as Bangladesh, Venezuela, Honduras, Cuba, China, Haiti, Ecuador, Peru and Nicaragua , and from African countries, carry two banners stating “We want free transit, we are emigrants, Mexico let us pass, support us, migrating is not a crime, it is a right, we want free transit”.
The Venezuelan, Eri Coronado, told Efe that they are not criminals and that they only ask for free passage to reach the United States, in peace, but the police do not let them travel.
“We left in a caravan in given that the INM stops us at all times on public transport and takes us to a checkpoint -called the Siglo XXI Immigration Station- where they detain us for 2, 3 or 4 days and send us back”, he explained.
Meanwhile, Meliisa Bolaños, a migrant from Ecuador, emphasized that they have left their country because the escalation of the prices of basic necessities and gasoline have risen too high and everything has collapsed and there is no work.
“We come from the jungle, it is very hard to cross out there and they make a caravan and we unite and we all go together and God willingly protects us all the way”, he said.
His compatriot Pablo Farías assured that poverty and famine continue to increase and everything rises, so a basic salary is not enough.
“We do not come to harm, we come in peace, to improve our lives and because we want better opportunities”, Farías pointed out.
Dec Migrant groups have organized themselves and have managed to evade checkpoints to continue walking on the side of the road, because the Mexican authorities have launched operations to secure people who travel irregularly through the border area between Mexico and Guatemala. .
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has intercepted more than 1.7 million migrants so far this fiscal year 2022 (since last October).
The Government of Mexico has also received criticism for its treatment of migrants, including the deployment of nearly 30,000 members of the Armed Forces on their northern and southern borders for migratory tasks.
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