- Thousands of immigrants are in danger in Mexico.
- MSF said the risks include overcrowding and Covid-19.
- The immigrants from Tapachula are heading to the United States.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Monday that tens of thousands of immigrants are in an “extremely vulnerable” situation in Mexico due to overcrowding, inadequate healthcare and the risk of contracting the coronavirus.
The medical aid organization blamed the “failure” of the asylum policy and continued deportation by the United States for the plight of immigration in the two border cities of southern and northern Mexico.
Read | Facing the influx of immigrants, Biden said he “does not apologize” for changes in border policy
MSF has deployed an emergency rescue team to provide medical, psychological and social assistance in Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, where approximately 40,000 migrants have been trapped.
Christoph Yankhoff of Doctors Without Borders said: “These people find that they have few refuges. They are crowded together or in streets with poor hygiene and risk of being infected by Covid-19. “
He added: “We are worried that people will experience symptoms of anxiety, depression and despair due to the lack of response from the authorities.”
Excessive use of force
In the past week, Mexican security forces disbanded several caravans of immigrants heading north from Tapachula to the United States, sparking accusations of excessive use of force.
Mexican authorities suspended two immigration agents accused of assaulting immigrants last week.
After U.S. President Joe Biden arrived at the White House and promised a more humane approach, the influx of migrants from Mexico moved more and more northward to escape poverty, violence and other problems.
MSF said that in the northeastern city of Reynosa, which borders the United States, about 2,000 Central American immigrants live in tents.
The organization warned that they were exposed to scorching temperatures, serious security threats and insufficient basic services.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said last week that he would write to Biden insisting on the need to solve the immigration problem because simply detaining people is not the solution.
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