Injuries and detainees leave a clash between a convoy of migrants and the Mexican National Guard

Dozens of migrants, who were traveling from Chiapas to Mexico City, clashed with agents from the National Guard and the National Institute of Migration. At least 30 Central Americans were captured and others wounded. In addition, five men in uniform were seriously injured. The group of foreigners is asking the Mexican authorities to organize their stay so that they can continue on their way to the United States.

A new violent clash between dozens of Central American and Mexican authorities depicts a seemingly endless migration crisis.

More than a hundred foreigners stranded in a convoy, of about 4,000 people who have advanced from southern Mexico since last October, encountered National Guard forces on Thursday when they tried to stop them on a highway linking the cities of Bijiapan and Tonala. Chiapas State.

The migrants threw stones and sticks at the agents who tried to arrest them, and according to the testimony of witnesses quoted by Reuters, some foreigners were later “severely beaten”, while the officers tried to surround them with their shields.

“Everything was chaotic,” said Luis Garcia, one of the organizers of the caravan. “It is not right that the authorities continue to act this way. Despite all the repression, we will not stop.”

Videos published by the local press show several migrants taking an agent out of their car and hitting him on the ground until he lost consciousness.

The National Guard confirmed in a statement that between 100 and 150 people of different nationalities attacked the men in military uniform and that five of them were “seriously wounded”.

As a result, a hitherto unknown number of foreigners were injured and 30 arrested, according to Mexican press reports.

Mexico receives the largest influx of immigration in its history

With immigrants and authorities clashing across the country, the policies of Mexico and the United States remain unresolved in a crisis that is on the contrary growing.

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According to figures revealed by the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees (Kumar) on November 2, the Mexican government received 108,195 asylum applications between January and October 2021. This is the largest record of such requests in the country’s history.

In the first 10 months of the year, the number tripled compared to the same period in 2020, when 41,000 procedures were reported.

The influx of migrants worsened amid rising violence and unemployment in countries such as Guatemala and Haiti, causing thousands to flee their places of origin.

But most say they are stuck while passing through Mexico, whose authorities have tightened measures to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States, under pressure from the neighboring country.

In September, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador admitted that “containing migrants is not enough.” (…) We can’t just stop, we have to address the causes.

There is still no universal solution, and the offer of humanitarian visas to some of the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children, are greeted with distrust by migrants, who consider it a potential deception to send them back to Tapachula, a Mexican city where they pass. They have been detained for months, or even deported to their home countries.

Many ask for an arrangement that will allow them to move through Mexican territory, without risk, while continuing their journey to the United States.

With Reuters, AP and local media