Migration

Migration in Chiapas

Schools for Chiapas begins preparatory training for civil observers volunteering with the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba) this week. One of the volunteering options available is at a migrant center at Salto El Agua here in Chiapas. In the first of two articles, we share with our readers some interesting facts and figures about migration in the state. If you are interested in volunteering through us at the migrant center, please visit our website at https://schoolsforchiapas.org/become-a-human-rights-observer/

Luis, The Adolescent Who Tried To Reach The U.S. Three Times

The human face of the global migration catastrophe we are experiencing is often lost in a sea of statistics. The story of Guatemalan teenager Luis Us Chavéz gives us some insight into the factors that propel young people to leave their homelands in search of a better life and the hardships they face on their paths. Luis was one of the fifty-six people who died when a trailer carrying migrants overturned in Chiapas last year. Luis is just one of thousands of migrants who make their way through the state annually.

For over a year now and as part of a continued process of diversification of our solidarity work here in Mexico, Schools for Chiapas has been recruiting civil observers to work with Frayba. Some of those observers volunteer at a migrant center at Salto el Agua in Chiapas. If you would like to find out more about the nature of that work or even consider spending a month there, please visit our website for more information at https://schoolsforchiapas.org/become-a-human-rights-observer/

High Number of Child and Adolescent Migrants in Chiapas

The global migration catastrophe has had serious consequences for Latin America. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forcefully displaced from their homelands due to violence, poverty, persecution and the climate crisis. Most of the migrants are en route to the USA in hope of a better life. Their journey invariably takes them through Mexico, Chiapas being their main point of entrance. Although the majority of the migrants come from Central and South America and the Caribbean, some come from as far away as the continents of Africa and Asia. Many of them are children and adolescents. Few reach their destination as many of them are detained and deported to their countries of origin.

Due to toughened measures against migration during the Trump presidency and continued by Biden, the US border has effectively been moved to Guatemala and this has resulted in increased militarization of the state of Chiapas, an issue that we have examined in previous blogs.

As part of our collaboration with the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Center for Human Rights (Frayba) and a continued diversification of our solidarity work, Schools for Chiapas has been recruiting and placing civil observer volunteers at the migrant refuge in Salto el Agua. If you would like to find out more and perhaps volunteer at the center for a month, please visit our website at https://schoolsforchiapas.org/become-a-human-rights-observer/

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