160 Feared Dead After Two Attacks on Migrants in Mexico

[A Real Human Bean]

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Amnesty report:

Mexican authorities must urgently investigate a shocking spike of violent attacks against undocumented migrants by criminal gangs and provide a safe haven for survivors, said Amnesty International.

More than 200 migrants, including several children, were violently attacked and several killed by armed groups in two separate attacks in the last two weeks. The whereabouts of more than 130 are still unknown, prompting fears for their life and security.

“Mexico has become a death trap for migrants, with vicious criminal gangs at every corner waiting for their opportunity to attack them for a few dollars, while authorities at the state and federal level are more eager to deport people than to save lives,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

“Many migrants have died and disappeared while trying to reach the USA in the past few years, the only question left is how many more lives have to be lost before authorities wake up and decide to take action.”

On Friday, several men armed with pistols, shotguns and machetes attacked a group of around 100 Central American migrants travelling on a cargo train near the town of Las Choapas, Veracruz, in southern Mexico.

The armed men demanded money from the group who were travelling to the US border, before attacking them.

According to local authorities interviewed by Amnesty International, only 44 people, including five children, were able to escape and reach a local town. Authorities transported them to a detention centre run by federal migration authorities where they have been in touch with their consulates to consider their options, which may include returning home, obtaining a humanitarian visa for Mexico, or in some cases applying for asylum.

One man was severely injured from a bullet wound and at least two others were badly beaten. Some migrants are considering making declarations to authorities regarding the attack yet many others are too scared to do so. In the meantime, authorities have not given clear information on actions taken to search for the rest of the group or investigate the crime.

In a separate incident, on 2 June, armed men dressed in military outfits attacked a group of around 120 Central American migrants in the state of Sonora, in northern Mexico.

Survivors told Amnesty International they were travelling to the US border when one of the vehicles they were travelling in broke down.

They said it was then that a group of armed men wearing military outfits approached them and fired at them indiscriminately. At least 13 of them escaped the attack and made their way through the desert to safety.

Amnesty International has interviewed some of these survivors. Authorities have rounded them up and have initiated procedures to return them back to their countries, as requested by the migrants, who went through a traumatic experience.

Two days after the violent incident, the Attorney´s Office of the State of Sonora said they found three bodies and two burned vehicles where the attack took place.

However, official investigations have not produced details on who is responsible for the attack and over the fate of the survivors, many of whom are still missing in the desert or are feared to have been abducted by the criminal gangs.

According to information published in recent months in national media, Mexican immigration authorities reported that from 2013 to 2014, reported kidnappings of migrants increased tenfold, with 62 complaints registered in 2013 and 682 in 2014.

“Migrants are forced to live in the shadows and Amnesty International has in the past documented extensive failures to investigate crimes committed against them in Mexico. With dozens of men, women and children potentially lost in the desert with no food or water or held by criminal gangs, there is no time to waste.”

“Authorities in Mexico must urgently begin searching for the missing migrants and ensure the safety of those who have been rescued. They must also initiate an urgent investigation into the wave of attacks against migrants and ensure those responsible face justice. Anything less will only put more migrants at risk,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.

In addition, Amnesty International is calling for the survivors of these attacks to be given proper attention as victims of serious crimes, including immediate psychological and medical support as well as the possibility of obtaining a humanitarian visa to stay in Mexico while they carry out a criminal complaint.

El Daily Post report:

On Tuesday, June 2, 120 migrants from Central America were just miles away from the Arizona border and the end of their long journey through Mexico.

But as luck would have it, one of their vehicles broke down and the entire group stopped to rest. A man came up, dressed in military attire, and ordered them at gunpoint to lie on the ground. Then he and a second man, also clad in a military outfit, began firing indiscriminately.

Three of the migrants apparently died on the spot. The rest scrambled to escape into the desert. Thirteen of them have since been found. There is no trace of the rest. They are feared dead.

Less than two weeks later, at the other end of the country, a group of 100 Central Americans, including women and children, were traveling atop a local freight train in southern Veracruz when they were attacked by some 20 individuals armed with shotguns, pistols and machetes. The assailants first demanded money, then began attacking.

It’s not yet known how many escaped the attack, or how many — if any — were killed. Some press reports say only 44 of the 100 survived, but there is no official information.

Thus some 220 Central American migrants were brutally attacked in Mexico in a mere 10 days, with at least three killed and more than 100 missing and feared dead. The cruel irony is that most of the Central Americans passing through Mexico left their home countries precisely to escape the kind of violence that many of them are encountering in Mexico.

The other irony is that the Peña Nieto administration’s Southern Border Plan is supposedly aimed in part at protecting migrants from criminals who exploit their plight to extort, rob, kidnap and kill. But since its implementation in July of 2014, violence against migrants has increased as the emphasis has clearly been on detaining more migrants.

This has been a sore point with rights groups and migrant support organizations, who accuse state and local authorities of lax investigations of the attacks and of neglecting to advise the victims of their rights or provide them with assistance.

More than two weeks after the Sonora tragedy, the Mexico office of Amnesty International (AI México) blasted Sonoran officials for not coming forth with any information about the investigation, or whether there even is one.

“The Sonora state authorities say there were three deaths and 13 rescued, but we don’t know what happened to the rest of the people who had to flee,” Perseo Quiroz, AI México director, told the Spanish-language online news site Animal Político in an interview. “We don’t see any exhaustive investigation being carried out.”

Quiroz wants the Federal Attorney General’s Office to take over the case, given the presence of criminal organizations in the area of the attack, and the indications that the shooters were dressed in military attire.

“This case must be investigated in depth,” he said. “They can't just say they found three bodies and leave it at that.”

Reporting on this has been scarce but I've posted what I've been able to find. Hopefully more information comes out soon.