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This Saturday it was two weeks since the caravan of thousands of migrants left the city of Tapachula, on October 23. Although they have not stopped their journey, they have had to face multiple obstacles and clashes with the Mexican authorities.
Two weeks after the caravan of thousands of migrants left Tapachula for Mexico’s capital, the crowd is now moving toward Tuxla Gutiérrez, instead of heading to Oaxaca as planned. This Saturday, the migrants resumed their journey from the municipality of Arraiga, in the southwest of Chiapas and very close to the border with the state of Oaxaca. His goal is to continue to Mexico City and thus achieve his long-awaited dream of stepping on US soil.
The caravan advances at a slow pace and with a low spirits after the death of one of its own at the hands of the National Guard, in addition to the recent confrontation with the authorities that left several detainees.
“We are tired, but we will continue, God first, to reach our destination, said Ángel Lara, a migrant from Honduras who travels with his family, who also added that” this caravan seeks to help them get to Mexico City because most she already has blisters on the soles of her feet, sick children and dehydrated women. ” In the central park of Arriaga, the migrants took the opportunity to rest and receive medical attention.
A long journey
According to some of the migrants, once they arrive in the city of Tuxla Gutiérrez, they would have to walk at least 135 kilometers of road in unpopulated areas, rest in a community that they are on the way and make constant short stops at gas stations.
Last Friday, November 5, a Cuban comrade lost his life after being shot by the National Guard. After this event, the migrant caravan had new clashes with the National Guard and agents of the National Migration Institute (INM), leaving several Central Americans arrested and some with considerable injuries among the populations of Pijijiapan and Tonalá.
The migrants say that when they saw that the situation turned violent, they began to throw stones at the security forces.
An increasing migratory flow
The migratory flow has been exacerbated amid rising violence and unemployment in countries like Guatemala, Mexico and Haiti, causing thousands to flee their places of origin.
According to figures revealed on November 2 by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (Comar), the Mexican Government has received 108,195 asylum requests between January and October 2021. This is the largest record of these requests in the history of the country.
Only between January and October they have tripled compared to the same period in 2020, when 41,000 procedures were reported. And although several UN agencies rejected the use of force in operations to disrupt the caravans, it remains latent against thousands of people in search of a better future.
With EFE and France24.
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