Tijuana cites ‘humanitarian crisis,’ seeks help from UN to deal with 5,000 migrants
TIJUANA, Mexico — The mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, has declared a humanitarian crisis in his border city and said Friday he is asking the United Nations for aid to deal with the approximately 5,000 Central American migrants, most of whom were camped out inside a sports complex.
The comments by Mayor Juan Manuel Gastélum came as city officials and volunteers worked together to assist the 4,976 men, women and children who had arrived after more than a month on the road. The U.S. government has spent weeks lambasting the caravan, which it said was filled with criminals, gang members and even — it insinuated at one point without any proof — terrorists.
Manuel Figueroa, who leads the city’s social services department, said Tijuana was bringing in portable toilets and showers, as well as shampoo and soap. It wasn’t enough. “Because of the absence, the apathy and the abandonment of the federal government, we are having to turn to international institutions like the UN,” Figueroa said.
René Vazquez, 60, a Tijuana resident who was volunteering at the stadium, said Mexico’s federal government ignored the problem by allowing the caravan to cross the country without stopping. Now the city of 1.6 million is stuck with the fallout.
“I don’t have anything against the migrants, they were the most deceived, but this is affecting us all,” Vazquez said.
Gastélum vowed not to commit the city’s public resources to dealing with the situation. On Thursday, his government issued a statement saying that it was requesting help from the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Vazquez, who plays on a soccer team that uses the sports complex, said Mexico should step up now and process humanitarian visas for the group so they can start looking for work. Meanwhile, since his soccer team can no longer practise at the complex, he was spending time passing out donated pizzas and roasted chicken to the migrants.
The migrant caravan that left Honduras in mid-October was mostly well received by the towns it passed through along the way to the border. Even cities with few resources made sure the migrants had food and a place to rest.
But in those places, the caravan stayed at most two nights — with the exception of Mexico City. Many of the migrants in Tijuana, who are fleeing violence and poverty, are seeking asylum in the United States and face the prospect of spending months in the border city before they have the opportunity to speak with a U.S. official.