Apr 29 2010
Central American Migrants Face Horrific Abuse in Mexico En Route to U.S.
In light of the signing into law of SB 1070, Arizona’s draconian anti-immigrant law, the government of Mexico issued a travel warning to its citizens heading to Arizona. However, Mexico’s own horrific record of its treatment of Central American migrants makes the travel warning highly ironic. Amnesty International released a new report this week entitled Invisible Victims: Migrants on the Move in Mexico, revealing widespread abuse of Central Americans traveling through Mexico on their way to the United States. A large fraction of those abused point the finger at direct involvement of government officials. According to my guest, Rupert Knox, “Persistent failure by the authorities to tackle abuses carried out against irregular migrants has made their journey through Mexico one of the most dangerous in the world.” Last year nearly 10,000 migrants were kidnapped for ransom over only six months. According to Amnesty, about half of those interviewed report that public officials were involved in their kidnapping. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable with an estimated sixty percent suffering from sexual assault or rape during their journey. While new laws have been put into place in Mexico to protect Central American migrants, the laws are rarely enforced, primarily because government officials are involved.
GUEST: Rupert Knox, Mexico Researcher at Amnesty International, joining us live from Mexico
Find out more at www.amnesty.org.
Download the report here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR41/014/2010/en/8459f0ac-03ce-4302-8bd2-
3305bdae9cde/amr410142010eng.pdf
Watch a video by Amnesty International about the situation of Central American migrants:
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