Treatment of Immigrants in Mexico Much Worse Than Any Other Country Kiran Nazish - USA Today
go to original June 15, 2016

The people who arrive at the Cafemin refugee center in Mexico are escaping war and violence. For many, Mexico is just another stop on their journey. They hope to make it to the United States, but how they will get there is another matter. (DW)

While Mexican politicians complain about the mistreatment of Mexican immigrants fleeing to the United States, Mexico is far more abusive toward Central and South American migrants who seek asylum or want to pass through to the U.S., human rights groups allege.

Many of the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing violence in their home countries, "are routinely preyed upon by both criminal organizations and corrupt government officials in Mexico," the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-profit rights group, said in a report issued in May.

...Martin Rios, who runs a kitchen to feed migrants in Tequisquiapan, confirmed the deal between drug cartels. “Many immigrants who take the train are kidnapped by the cartels here and exchanged with other cartels,” he said. “They are often used as slaves, the women are sexually harassed and often used in the human trafficking business.”

Martin Rio is visited by local police at his kitchen. They make him sign a document describing his activities every few hours, three to four times a day. Martin says, they sometimes use tactics of intimidation. (Kiran Nazish)

Vicki Fox, who has done research on the issue at the University of London, said nine out of 10 Central American migrants in Ixtepec "had been the victim of a serious crime in Southern Mexico, ranging from armed robbery and assault to gang rape and attempted murder."

Fox said some migrants reported extortion by local Mexican authorities, too. "But this is the tip of the iceberg of the abuse, which includes mass-kidnap, rape, disappearance and murder at the hands of organized crime groups such, as the Zetas."

"Those who cannot pay for their release are murdered, and their bodies have been cut into pieces and burnt or dissolved in chemicals and made into fertilizer to spread on fields," Fox added. "All trace of them, of their humanity, disappeared."

Read the rest at USA Today

Related: Inside the Dangers Immigrants Face Being Smuggled Across Border (KSAT)

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