Protesters: “Libertad! Libertad!!”
Nadja Drost: Calls for freedom and the chance to leave what migrants are
calling an outdoor prison: the city of Tapachula in
Southern Mexico. They’ve been stuck here for weeks to several months, and they
want out.
Luis Villagran: No one is going to stop migration!
Nadja Drost: But that’s what Mexico is trying to do: stop migrants from moving
northward on their journey to the U.S. and Canada. And while shifts in Mexican
and American immigration policy are largely targeting Central Americans,
they’re also affecting those from outside the western hemisphere, from
countries as far as Cameroon, India, and Pakistan. They’re known as
“extra-continental migrants.” With nowhere to live, several hundred, mostly
from Central Africa have been camping out in front of the immigration detention
center. There are no bathrooms, and there’s nowhere to bathe. Most everyone is
hungry, handouts from a church group just aren’t enough.
Francoise: We are in a prison here.
Isaac: You can't go out, you can't work
Nadja Drost: This couple and their toddler from the Democratic Republic of
Congo are re-selling bread to fellow migrants to get by. They are afraid to use
their real names, so we’re calling them Isaac and Francoise. They fled
political persecution after an anti-government militia group paid Isaac’s
family a visit.
Isaac: They got angry and called their commander who gave them the order
to kill all of us, and spare nobody.
Nadja Drost: The militia killed Isaac’s parents and two brothers. But one
militia man who knew Isaac helped him and his family escape the country. They
flew to Ecuador, and joined a route used by thousands of extra-continental
migrants who usually land in Ecuador or Brazil, where visa requirements are
relatively lax. On the way to Mexico, they must cross a thick, roadless jungle
that straddles the border between Colombia and Panama called the “Darien
Gap.”
Francoise: It was like hell to me. I never thought I would be able to get
out of it because I saw other friends dying.
Nadja Drost: They spent 15 days crossing jungle and rivers. But when they made
it to Mexico, Isaac and Francoise hit a roadblock. Until recently, Mexico had
little interest in stopping extra-continental migrants from traversing the
country to reach the U.S. Border. But then, in the summer of 2019, the U.S.
threatened Mexico with trade tariffs if it didn’t drastically stem the flow of
migrants. Mexico clamped down, sending 6,000 National Guard troops to its
southern border. In effect, the country was doing the American President’s
bidding, says lawyer and activist Luis Villagran.
Luis Villagran: This is where Donald Trump’s wall starts. For a migrant who flees
their country, more so for one carrying kids who are trying to get by day by
day, they are seeing that Trump’s wall starts here.
Nadja Drost: The National Guard attempt to intercept migrants without
documentation crossing the Suchiate River into
Mexico. Some get past the soldiers to reach the city, but for those trying to
continue north from tapachula, even more barriers
await.
Nadja Drost: Behind me is one of the many checkpoints that surround the city
of Tapachula, where immigration officials search
vehicles and apprehend any migrants and asylum seekers who don’t carry the
necessary paperwork to cross Mexico.
Nadja Drost: The checkpoints are part of expanded immigration enforcement
throughout the country, says Luciana Gandini, a professor at the National
Autonomous University of Mexico who coordinates a center for migration
studies.
Luciana Gandini: On the one hand, they’re increasing enforcement at the border, but
that’s not enough, so they’re also implementing a containment strategy in order
to comply with some of the strategies the U.S. is asking for.
Nadja Drost: Over 13,000 extra-continental migrants registered with immigration
authorities last year through November. Many more haven’t registered. Many
don’t read or speak Spanish, making everything from negotiating prices to
understanding immigration papers challenging, if not impossible. They try to
get by however they can. Tembo Yumbu
cut hair for 14 years in his native Democratic Republic of Congo. Now, he’s transformed
this patch of pavement into an outdoor barber shop.
Tembo Yumbu: Most of my clients are Congolese, Cameroonian, Angolese, Guinean
and Malian brothers.
Nadja Drost: Yumbu’s razor and pair of
scissors have given him the means to subsist and carry on the long journey from
Congo, it’s taken him 7 months so far.
Tembo Yumbu: But this is the kind of trip that never ends. In order to not
overthink and feel a lot of pain, that's why I am here and doing this, but we
hope that one day we will find some open doors.
Nadja Drost: Extra-continental migrants trying to resolve their status say they
come up against administrative delays and confusion at the immigration
center.
Isaac: Since we’ve been here, Migration authorities said they had no solution
for us.
Nadja Drost: There are few interpreters, meaning they often can’t understand
their options. So they’re shuffled, week after week,
month after month, from one government office to another.
Francoise: You think that they will give you the documents when you go to
the appointment, but it's another appointment.
Isaac: It's always another appointment.
Nadja Drost: Mexico’s National Migration Institute which applies migration
policy, turned down Newshour Weekend’s request for an interview. So did the
ministry of external relations, which has negotiated agreements with the U.S.
to curb migration. For lawyer Villagrán, the delays
migrants face aren’t just a matter of bureaucracy.
Luis Villagran: In the case of people from Africa, they tell them they have to leave by the southern border. They know they won’t
leave, so they’re stranded here, they’re in immigration limbo
Nadja Drost: The only way extra-continentals can legalize their status is to
apply for asylum or permanent residence to stay in Mexico. But very few want to
stay. Osama Mahyoub, who says he fled death threats
in his native Yemen, speaks for many.
Osama Mahyoub: I
don't want to apply for asylum in Mexico, my goal is to arrive in the USA. Here
in Mexico, we are afraid, the gangs frighten me ,
there are a lot of them. There is a lot of Mafia in Mexico.
Nadja Drost: He pays for a shared hotel room using money he earned working in
Ecuador before heading north. The longer he stays, the quicker it’ll run out,
but he doesn’t see a way around it.
Osama Mahyoub: I
will wait here until immigration authorities find a solution with the Americans
for the migrants in this city
Nadja Drost: But Mexico’s stance on migration appears only to be hardening. In
an October speech, Immigration Chief Francisco Garduño
announced the first-ever deportation of extra-continental migrants, sending
home 300 from India. And, he warned of more to come.
Francisco Garduño: This
is a notice for all transcontinental migration, that even if you’re from Mars,
we’ll send you back, we’ll send you to India, to Cameroon, to Africa.”
Nadja Drost: Meanwhile, Tapachula has become a pressure-cooker.
Migrant: We’ve been blocked here for four months in terrible living
conditions without food, without work! We’ve had enough of this story with
Immigration authorities. These people are demons!
Nadja Drost: Some extra-continentals head west to the coast, joining those who
resort to paying smugglers to take them out of southern Mexico by sea. Recently
a boat carrying 25 capsized, triggering Mexican security forces to carry out a
search and rescue mission. One Cameroonian was found dead here after fellow
migrants had tried to resuscitate him. All told, the ocean waves brought four
dead Cameroonians to shore. Despite the dangers, extra-continental migrants
will continue to head out on these waters if it’s the only way to reach their
destination.
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|
TIMECODE |
LOWER
THIRD |
1 |
3:18 |
TAPACHULA, MEXICO NADJA DROST SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT |
2 |
5:57 |
LUIS VILLAGRÁN LAWYER |