Migrants overwhelm shelter that could close on Mexico’s northern border

The arrival of 150 Haitian migrants this Friday at a shelter in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipasborder with USAhas caused the saturation of the place, with space for 250 people, and a crisis due to lack of resources.

The activists who maintain the place pointed out that they are prevented from receiving more people and families and even, they said, they are analyzing reducing from three to one daily meal to continue operating.

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More than 150 migrants, a large majority from Haitisome Central Americans and Mexicans, arrived today at the site, located south of the city of Matamoroswhich is located a few kilometers from the border between Mexico Y USAto request that they be given access while they manage to cross into the American Union.

“They have nowhere to stay, they have to rent rooms or sleep on the street. I have told the United States consul that it is their problem and I don’t see them here doing anything about it. That is their job, but we have to do it ourselves.” declared the shelter’s director, Abraham Barberi.

Before operating as a hostel, the building was a religious center, but as a result of the Camp migrantwhich was on the banks of the Rio Grande and was closed more than a year ago, it was proposed that this place give protection to some 60 foreigners and displaced Mexicans.

However, given the circumstances, it was necessary to accept the migrants who came from other Central and South American countries to Mexico.

Barberi, a religious leader, reported that they do not have the capacity to shelter, there are already 250 people, including children, women and adults, who live in that place, which has reduced the space and has reduced food, such as daily supplies.

“I hope the government does something because they have done nothing, this is maintained by donations and we do not see any support from the authorities,” the activist said.

The migrants When they found out that there was no opportunity to temporarily live on the site, they chose to leave to seek rent for a home or insert themselves into a house with compatriots or, as a last option, spend the night on the street adrift from the delinquency that plagues this border municipality.

Another factor to consider was that the pandemic, and its impact on the economy, caused donations to the shelter to decrease and in the calculations that the activists have, it is envisioned that they will be able to sustain assistance until August and then they could close.

“We are seriously thinking, here they are given food three times a day, that we are going to take away the two meals and we are only going to leave one so that it can perform a little more”mentioned the person in charge of the shelter, Samuel Isaí Reyna.

A group of migrants remains at the entrance of a shelter, in Matamoros, in the state of Tamaulipas (Mexico). (EFE/Abraham Pineda-jacome/)

Linel Jolivens of Haiti and her family have watched their compatriots arrive and migrants from other countries begging for assistance, but since there is no possibility, they have to go to another point in the locality to find the support they require.

They themselves are desperate, they have been at that point for four months and their hope of going to US territory is over, mainly to find a solution to the condition of one of their daughters, who has developed a disease in one of her eyes.

“They can’t do anything for her because they don’t have material, they can do it in other countries, but not here in Mexico“, said.

To continue the movement migrants along this border, activists have warned that it will be difficult to provide services to families who, despite the closure of international bridges by the US government, continue to spread out in the north of Mexico.

The region is experiencing a record migratory flow to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office detected more than 1.7 million undocumented immigrants on the border with Mexico in fiscal year 2021, which ended on September 30.

But Mexico It has also faced criticism for the deployment of more than 20,000 elements of the Armed Forces on the northern and southern border to detain migrants, of which it deported more than 114,000 in 2021.

Source: Elcomercio