This Friday, 11 leaders from the region will meet in Washington to attend a summit on economic prosperity that was convened by the White House. One of the central themes will be immigration, an issue that has caused a crisis not only on the southern border of the United States but in countries such as Colombia and Panama due to the growing flow through the Darién Gap.
In its preamble, EL TIEMPO spoke exclusively with Juanita Goebertus, director for the Americas of Human Rights Watch (HRW), who spoke about the importance of the meeting and its priorities.
Although Goebertus highlights President Joe Biden’s initiative, he does not mince words when criticizing his policies towards the region, especially immigration policies. According to the director, to a large extent, The measures implemented by the Biden administration to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants would be aggravating the crisis in the Darién and enriching criminal groups such as the Clan del Golfo.
This Friday, the leaders of the 11 countries that signed the Association of the Americas for Economic Prosperity, an initiative that was born from the last Summit of the Americas, will meet at the White House. What assessment do you make of this type of initiatives?
President Joe Biden has said he wants to promote a democratic, safe and middle-class region. That is a valuable agenda and consistent with the main human rights concerns in our region. But, Achieving it requires much greater efforts than we have seen so far from his administration.
Too often we see how their initiatives for the region are diluted or undermined by internal political interests – such as trying to stop migration with restrictive measures – or lose prominence in the face of global problems, such as competition with China, the conflict in the Middle East and war. in Ukraine.
(Also read: Why is Joe Biden toughening his policies against irregular migration?)
The White House points out that one of the causes of illegal immigration is the economic crisis in several countries and that, therefore, the solution lies there. Do you see it that way at HRW?
Definitely. The economic situation, poverty and unemployment are important factors that lead some people to leave their countries. in search of better opportunities. We see it in the case of Venezuelans, Haitians and Cubans who flee humanitarian crises in their countries. In the case of Central Americans, they leave due to poverty and lack of opportunities. And also in cases like Ecuador, where there has been a significant increase in the migratory flow.
Furthermore, since the pandemic, unemployment, poverty and, in some cases, crime have increased. With that increased the population’s tendency to unfairly blame migrants for their problems, leading many Venezuelans and Haitians who lived in South America to try to reach the United States. But, that is not the only cause.
What others?
The repression in countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba; and violence by criminal groups or gangs in Central America, Haiti or Ecuador.
(You may be interested: Joe Biden’s government will expand the wall on the border with Mexico to stop migrants)
What worries you regarding the US?
That sometimes the Biden administration seems willing to ignore these abuses and attacks on the rule of law in exchange for cooperation from some governments to stop migration. The clearest case is the silence in the face of attacks on the rule of law in Mexico, but we have also seen it on some occasions both in El Salvador and Guatemala.
If we do not come out decisively to protect democracy and the rule of law, we will achieve very little to stop migration long-term. In that sense, I hope that the presidents who meet in Washington this week will express their concern about the attacks against the opposition in Venezuela, which are an attack against the agreements reached between the opposition and the regime in Barbados a few weeks ago.
(Also: Politicians would be profiting from the immigration crisis in the Darién, according to the New York Times)
The Biden administration appears willing to ignore these abuses and attacks on the rule of law in exchange for cooperation.
The United States has been making other decisions to stop the migratory flow, among them, the expansion of legal means to emigrate, but also other tough ones to deport in an “express” manner. What do you think?
President Biden’s immigration policy has been disappointing. Although it has implemented some measures to promote legal and safe routesmost of their efforts have focused on trying to stop or contain migration.
Biden has sought the collaboration of several Latin American governments to prevent people from traveling north and to facilitate quick deportations. It has also expanded some of Trump’s most abusive policies, such as expulsions of non-Mexicans to Mexico and rules that force asylum seekers to wait in dangerous cities on the Mexican border where they become targets for abuse by cartels. . As a consequence of these containment policies, The migratory route to the United States has become the deadliest in the world in 2022, according to IOM statistics.
You have been working for months in one of those bottlenecks, the Darién Gap. How much do Washington policies contribute?
Our researchers have been investigating the migration crisis in the Darien Gap for 18 months. Next Thursday we will present a first report on this topic in Washington and will have meetings in the White House, the State Department and Congress, with both Democrats and Republicans, to share our findings.
(Keep reading: Why is the death toll in Darién the highest since records have been recorded?)
The report demonstrates, with quantitative evidence, how The region’s immigration policies, promoted by the United States, have contributed to the fact that thousands of people fleeing persecution or poverty have no alternative but to cross the very dangerous Darien jungle.. This exposes them to serious abuses and has empowered organized crime, particularly the Gulf Clan.
What figures do they handle…
Almost half a million migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Darien in the last year, including children. In recent years, more than 900 people have requested assistance for suffering acts of sexual violence. No one should be exposed to these atrocities to improve their living conditions or seek asylum. The way to avoid this is by offering legal and safe routes, not by trying to stop the migratory flow with restrictive measures that only put the population at greater risk.
What specific effects do you see in Colombia?
Those who begin their journey through the Darién do so in Urabá, where the Gulf Clan exercises hegemonic control. The Gulf Clan sets the rules and gets rich by collecting extortions. What is happening in Darién is a regional problem resulting from failed immigration policies that areIt must be faced with the support of the international community to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to migrants.
But, Colombia cannot wash its hands. A serious security policy is needed to seek to dismantle the Gulf Clan and protect the local population. It is unacceptable that these municipalities of Urabá are under the domination of a criminal organization. Colombia cannot normalize it. The same goes for Panama, where authorities should be doing much more to investigate criminals who rob, kill and rape migrants.
What is your suggestion?
We are one of the regions in the world with the highest growth in the number of international migrants. According to IOM data, between 2005 and 2020 the migrant population in Latin America has doubled. We went from 7 to 15 million migrants. To face the immigration challenge of our times we need coordinated measures. Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration, a key legal instrument on refugee rights in Latin America. We have the opportunity to promote similar instruments to respond to current migration difficulties.
(You can read: The story of the cemetery where dozens of migrants who die in Darién end up)
A comprehensive answer…
We believe that the governments of the region must unify and strengthen the norms and processes to give legal status to migrants, and they must create a mechanism to fairly distribute the costs and responsibilities of States that host migrants and asylum seekers in the region.
And, while this mechanism is created, governments, individually, They should be doing much more to strengthen and improve their asylum and regularization systems, confront xenophobia and integrate the migrant population. There have been valuable experiences, such as the Temporary Statute for the Protection of Venezuelans in Colombia and the simplified asylum process in Brazil. The region has a lot to learn from its own successes and limitations.
SERGIO GÓMEZ MASERI
TIME CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON
In X: @sergom68
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