Politics

Mexico City shelter network collects essentials for migrants amid influx

Mexico City, Apr 16 (EFE).- Given the high number of migrants in and transiting through the Mexican capital and the lack of solutions provided by authorities, the city’s shelter network began a solidarity campaign to collect canned food, water, medicines and hygiene items for the migrants.

The influx of so many to Mexico City seeking to work or to continue their journey to the United States has overwhelmed shelters and hundreds have been forced to settle in makeshift camps in the center of the metropolis.

The campaign aims to reach migrants in the capital and in the neighboring state of Hidalgo.

Much of this aid will be distributed to migrants who travel on the back of La Bestia, a freight train that they use to travel north and on which many lose their way of life or suffer serious injuries, explained Samantha Hernánde, communication coordinator of Cafemin shelter, in an interview with EFE.

“They have reported to us the need to attend to the people who are on the road waiting for La Bestia to finally take them to the north of the country,” she said.

Hernández also regretted that this is a job that only shelters carry out with the support of those who participate in the collection campaign.

“The shelters are not subsidized by the government, so with their own resources and those of the religious congregation,s they are the ones who are approaching the train tracks to deliver medicines and any other need,” she stressed.

The network of migrant shelters, in response to the overwhelm that they have been experiencing for months and the lack of response from the authorities, have taken a step forward for their joint organization.

“Although there were solidarity networks, there was no communication or channeling mechanism. The emergency (…) forced us to create these mechanisms,” said the local integration coordinator of the shelter, Mario Monroy.

This occurs after the region registered a record migratory flow during fiscal year 2022, with 2.76 million undocumented migrants detained at the border between Mexico and the US.

In the southern city of Tapachula, Chiapas, organizations warn that the migrant population already exceeds the local population and the capital expects the arrival of about 65,000 more migrants for the first half of May. EFE llo/tw

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