Catholic priests, activists, and locals participated on Thursday in a symbolic march near the border between Mexico and Guatemala to denounce the abuses suffered by migrants on their journey to the United States. Around 100 people walked approximately two kilometers from the Casa del Migrante Sin Frontera in Tecún Umán, western Guatemala. They then crossed the border river Suchiate on the same makeshift rafts used by migrants and attended a mass at a church in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness about the realities of migration, explained Gemayel Fuentes, coordinator of the Casa del Migrante. “What we seek is for migrants to be recognized not only in their country of origin but also in transit and destination countries,” Fuentes added.
Some participants carried flags from Guatemala, Mexico, other Latin American countries, and the United States. The Suchiate River, approximately 150 meters wide, is crossed daily by migrants on precarious rafts made from truck tires.
Migrants “flee” their home countries due to “constant persecution, violence, hunger, lack of employment, and insufficient wages,” stated the dioceses of San Marcos (Guatemala) and Tapachula (Mexico) in a joint communiqué. In search of a better life, migrants cross “mountains, deserts, and rivers, risking their lives to escape wars, political persecution, hunger, and a lack of opportunities in all areas of society,” the statement continued.
The dioceses highlighted that “in Chiapas, migrants are at the mercy of cartels who freely rob, extort, kidnap, and murder them in plain sight of authorities.” Migrants also suffer from “excessive fees, illegal checkpoints, discrimination, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and child exploitation,” all exacerbated by the lack of policies to address these issues, the statement added.
Casa del Migrante, established in 1996, provides free shelter, food, medicine, medical care, lab services, phone calls, internet, and legal advice to around 150 people daily, Fuentes detailed. Last year, the center assisted 30,122 migrants, and so far this year, the number has already exceeded 31,000, Fuentes noted.
Central America and Mexico serve as a corridor for thousands of migrants from around the world seeking to reach the United States.
