Migrants live hours of anguish to know the fate of relatives after deadly fire

Anguish invaded desperate migrants on Wednesday to find out if relatives or friends were among the 38 dead in a fire at a detention center in Juarez Citywhich highlighted the harsh treatment these people receive on their way to USA.

Dozens remain in front of the facilities of the Migration’s national institute (INM), where the tragedy occurred on Monday night, awaiting information.

LOOK HERE: How the tragedy began in Ciudad Juárez and why Mexico has become the US immigration police.

More than a day and a half after the events, the authorities still did not report the identities and the number of deaths by nationality. Nor the situation of the 28 injured, some in serious condition.

Until now they have only reported that there were citizens of Guatemala, Venezuela, The Savior, Honduras, Ecuador and Colombiaalthough the Ecuadorian government clarified that there were no citizens of its own in the place.

“It is what we want to know, if they were in there or not”, the Venezuelan told AFP Gilbert Zabaletawho is looking for his friends Daniel and Oscar.

A group of Venezuelan migrants and relatives of people who died in a fire in a shelter protest in front of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in Ciudad Juárez. (EFE/Luis Torres).

The last thing he heard from them was that they were taken away in a government vehicle. INM heading to the station, around noon on Monday.

“We think they were inside”, Zabaleta commented, his face lacerated by the low temperatures.

The government will deliver this Wednesday a report on the incident, which according to the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorwill not go unpunished.

“We are not going to hide anything and there will be no impunity”, said the leftist president during his daily press conference, and asked the Attorney General’s Office to advance the investigations and “be punished accordingly (…) those who have caused this painful tragedy”.

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López Obrador had already announced on Tuesday that the fire broke out when a group of migrants set fire to mattresses in protest of their possible deportation.

The moment of the fire in a detention center for migrants in Ciudad Juárez. (Video capture).

The president confirmed this Wednesday the existence of a surveillance video that shows the moment the flames started, without the managers apparently opening what appears to be the cell where they were kept.

“There is no purpose of hiding the facts (…), of protecting anyone, the violation of human rights is not allowed in our government, nor is impunity allowed”, he assured.

MORE INFORMATION: Pope Francis asks for prayers for the migrants killed in the fire in Ciudad Juárez

Karine Jean-Pierrespokesperson for the White Housebranded as “piercing” the 32-second video that focuses the discussion on the possible responsibility of the Mexican government, on which the INM depends.

The spokeswoman indicated that authorities from both countries are in contact and opened the possibility that some injured receive medical attention in USA.

The Salvadoran government demanded punishment for those in charge of the place, considering that according to the video “the migrants were left inside the cells (…) without the slightest consideration and without any possibility of getting to safety”.

Firefighters help the injured in the fire at the migrant detention center in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. (Omar Ornelas/USA Today Network via REUTERS)

“How is it possible that the Mexican authorities have left human beings locked up with no possibility of escaping the fire?”, he questioned for his part in a statement Erika Guevaradirector for the Americas of International Amnesty.

The organization denounced that the catastrophe is “consequence of the restrictive and cruel migratory policies shared by the governments of Mexico and United States”.

Migrants believe that these measures make it increasingly difficult for them to reach the United States to escape violence and extreme poverty in their countries.

“Seeking refuge is a human right and not a police matter”, reads a banner hanging on the gate of the INM in Juarez Citywhose sign remains stained with soot.

Dozens of migrants demonstrated this Wednesday there, at the offices of the Ministry of the Interior in Mexico City and in tapachula (border with Guatemala) to demand justice.

Weigh

Meanwhile, the tragedy continued to elicit expressions of sorrow. “Let us pray for the migrants who died yesterday in a tragic fire in Ciudad Juárez”, asked the Pope Francisco.

A report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) points out that since 2014 some 4,400 people have died or disappeared on the 3,180 km border between Mexico and the United States.

ALSO SEE: Mexico: the shocking video that shows how security guards let 38 migrants die

The American President, Joe Bidenhardened immigration policy, forcing migrants from UkraineVenezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti to request asylum from the countries through which they transit or to manage appointments online.

The Democratic president is accused by the Republican opposition of having lost control of the border, with more than 4.5 million people intercepted without papers in that region since he took office.

Source: Elcomercio