A recent report from the state police in Chihuahua revealed that in the last three years, more than 1,700 migrants in the country were released for their kidnappersgenerating feelings of uncertainty and fear in people undocumented who are stranded in the border of Mexico with USA.
The fear of migrants has increased considerably, especially since the secretary of Chihuahua State Public SecurityGilberto Loya Chávez, explained last week that throughout this historic migration wavehave found such a large number of undocumented immigrants deprived of their liberty.
One of the victims of Ecuadorian origin said that he was kidnapped for almost a month, and had to pay 4 thousand dollars to be released in Tapachula, from where he returned walking to the northern border, working and sleeping in the mountains and terminals, with meals. every 48 hours and only once a day.
Everything happens between the almost 200 percent annual increase in irregular migration during the first quarter of 2024, when the Government of Mexico managed to detect more than 360 thousand migrants in such a situation.
In fact, in 2023, the civil association, Alto Secuestro, recorded 772 kidnappings of undocumented immigrants, close to a third of the national total who have been victims of this crime, while in the month of March it recorded a figure considered “historic.” of 521 kidnapped, and more than half of them were irregular migrants.
The coordinator of the Migrant Service of the civil organization Avara, Rosa Mani Arias, considers that the figure of the Secretary of State Public Security is really worrying and “alarming”, attributing the situation to the notable lack of friendly policies for immigrants who come to Mexico avoiding operations of the Migration’s national institute (INM).
“It is very worrying to see hundreds of people who are being violated, deprived of their freedom. Unfortunately, not allowing them to reach the border freely is having an impact.”
Likewise, Arias made a complaint to the Mexican government, accusing it of exacerbating the vulnerability of said group, because these people have been escaping crime and poverty in their countries, being easy prey for kidnappers.
“We have seen that laws or policies are not going to stop migratory flows, they always look for a way to reach the border areas and sadly we see this flow so vulnerable, and now this situation of being kidnapped is added.”
But that’s not all, Arias also said that the most worrying thing is that the exact number of kidnappings is unknown.
“There may be hundreds or thousands more who are anonymous, in complete silence, because it is not known in which other areas of the city these same dynamics exist with these people deprived of their liberty and we do not know their final whereabouts.”
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