Cuban migrants exposed to kidnappings and extortion in Mexico

Cuban migrants claimed to feel vulnerable and exposed to kidnappings and extortion in Mexico, by human traffickers and authorities operating in that country.

Heanalysis "Mixed Movements in Central America and Mexico of the Regional Group on Risks, Emergencies and Disasters for Latin America and the Caribbean (Redlac)" details the situation of undocumented immigrants who cross the Mexican nation to reach the border with the United States, and collects testimony of dozens of Cubans in transit.

These "stated thatthe traffickers were cruel with them, since they are often considered to travel with more economic resources compared to migrants of other nationalities," the document states.

According to respondents, "Mexican police, immigration officials and armed criminal groups were looking for people in situations of human mobility to extort money from them.".

For example, some Cuban asylum seekers participating in an investigation in Ciudad Juárez reported that They had been detained by the authorities in that region and at border crossings, after which they were threatened due to their immigration status so that they would pay bribes.

The report recognizes that kidnappings in that area of northern Mexico are also frequent, especially in the city center and near the pedestrian bridge between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso.

"A Cuban couple interviewed at a shelter in the city stated that they refused to let their children leave the shelter for fear that they could be kidnapped or become a possible victim of extortion," the document states.

Research by Redlac, a regional coordination platform for disaster preparedness and response, which aims to achieve a common reading of the phenomenon of violence and displacement in Central American countries, concludes that people inhuman mobility situation in Mexico They report a high exposure to sexual violations, kidnappings, extortions, assaults and traumas in the country.

Similar complaints had already emerged previously. In August, several undocumented Cubans and Venezuelans reported being victims of extortion by the Mexican immigration authorities, who ask for amounts of money ranging from 300 to 500 Mexican pesos ($15 to $25 dollars) to allow them to transit to the country's northern border. .

"We have testimonies from many people who have been extorted by the immigration agents themselves at the checkpoints, where they ask for amounts of money ranging from 300 to 500 pesos. They no longer receive 200 pesos. They get angry and threaten to deport them," explained to the newspaperThe universal Irineo Mujica, a migrant advocate in Mexico.

The Cubans arrive in Nicaragua and from there begin their journey north. This week the population of Honduras denounced that migrants from the island are constantly extorted by the Police.

A video that circulated on the internet revealed how theHonduran police officers demand money to let them continue on public transportation to Guatemala. Authorities reported that the officers involved in the video were suspended.

However, none of these events have stopped the Cuban immigration crisis, which is evident in the very high number of people arriving at the US border. In the last fiscal year 224,764 did so; while last Octoberalmost 30 thousand migrants from the island They hit the ground in the US.