Mattresses thrown on the floor, smoke filling the cell, frightened men screaming for help. Agents of the National Institute for Migration (Inami) fleeing the center without opening the gates. Result: 39 dead. For the past week, the Mexican government has been trying to explain the worst tragedy that happened in a reception center of the Mexican administration, responding to this fire by tracking down those responsible: three Inami agents, two police officers and the man who lit the fire were indicted, the director of the establishment is in the hot seat. The opening of an investigation for « homicide » does not hide the constant violation of the rights of people in transit through Mexico.
“An unworthy place… unfit to accommodate the public”
“How is it possible that the Mexican authorities locked up human beings with no chance of escaping the fire? », emphasizes Erika Guevara, Director for the Americas at Amnesty International. Coordinator of the NGO Sin Fronteras (Without borders), Fernanda Rivero went to this overcrowded center in September 2022, which she described as « prison »… “An unworthy place, without ventilation, unfit to accommodate the public. This tragedy is the consequence of the failure of the migration policy which violates the rights of these people. »
With already 2.76 million refugees in Mexico, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the flow of migrants continues to increase along the Rio Bravo, the river that separates the United States from Mexico. On the American side, a record was recorded in 2022, with 444,439 people in transit intercepted, compared to 228,115 in December 2021. Faced with this flow, Joe Biden repeatedly extended Health Order 42, introduced by his predecessor Donald Trump during the Covid-19 pandemic, which allows evictions without procedure.
The responsibility of the United States
These hundreds of thousands of refugees, deported to Mexico for the most part, seek asylum there. The Inami claims to have ” Safe “ 756,088 people in 2022 compared to 425,630 in 2021. Overwhelmed and without a humanitarian reception policy, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had from the start of his mandate in 2019 deployed the National Guard along the border as a response to the humanitarian crisis , and promised that Mexico would pay for the creation of a border wall, at the request of Donald Trump.
“The United States has a responsibility in this drama because it has promoted detention and deportation policies and has succeeded in externalizing flow control, confirm Fernanda Rivero. But if Mexico is the filter of the United States, then it must give these people a dignified life and respect their fundamental rights. » At the border, NGOs report migrants locked up for months, while the law provides for a maximum of fifteen days.
The Mexican president announced the creation of a council for the protection of the human rights of migrants, which would count with the participation of a priest known in the country for his commitment to refugees and close to Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. “If there is anyone here who has sincerely defended migrants with his refuges, it is Father Solalinde”. But nothing for the moment that allows to improve the living conditions of people in transit in the country.