Honduras and Mexico seek to streamline migration flows but have had differences due to the “misuse” of humanitarian cards issued by the Mexican government.
Some 25,000 Hondurans have entered Mexican territory from October 2018 to February 2019, this flow is related to the delivery of humanitarian cards by the Mexican government to migrants who travel through Mexico with the objective of reaching the border with the United States. United, explains Alden Rivera Montes, Ambassador of Honduras in Mexico.
The representative of the Honduran government in Mexico considers that the use of this document by migrants has been distorted, because the cards were used by groups opposed to the government of Juan Orlando Hernández, president of Honduras, to make the mobilizations of people to the United States.
Networks
An example is Pueblo sin Frontera, an organization that used the visitor’s card to summon people to a caravan, which was made known through social networks and people were told they could circulate freely in Mexico without being arrested to reach the United States, explains Rivera Montes.
“The visitor card became a stimulus for people to leave the country (Honduras). In addition, the caravans became an exercise of a political nature, “he adds.
A concern on the part of the government of Honduras is that Mexico does not thoroughly investigate the background of the people who use the humanitarian card. “We asked that the Mexican government be more demanding in granting the card. In Ciudad Hidalgo (Mexico) there was not a rigorous record of the people, a criminal background check, as well as the fact that there were arrest warrants or if they had to serve a sentence (the migrants), “he says.
Despite the foregoing, Rivera Montes acknowledges that this document issued by the Mexican government gives certainty to migrants from the Northern Triangle (El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala), which is positive, because through this document migrants can access to health services, in addition to having the possibility of looking for a temporary job during your stay in Mexico. Likewise, the number of cases of aggression by organized crime groups against migrants has been reduced to zero, he adds.
“We recognize that the card has an important value in terms of dignifying the condition of the migrant. By having the identification they no longer have to hide (migrants). The card makes them citizens with free mobility and can use buses without having the fear that the authorities will stop them, “says the Honduran official.
The Ambassador of Honduras in Mexico recognizes that despite the differences that may exist between the two countries over the issue of the delivery of humanitarian cards, there is a spirit of collaboration since the problem of migration is of a regional nature.
Source: forbes
The Mazatlan Post
