During a large-scale fire at the detention center of the Mexican immigration service in Ciudad Juarez, security noticed the fire, but the migrants were not released from their cells. This can be seen in the video. At least 38 people died on Monday and dozens more were injured. The government of El Salvador, where some of the victims came from, is furious.
A video shared on social media, apparently from a surveillance camera inside the compound, shows a chamber filled with smoke as men kick the bars of a locked door. In the 30-second video, three people in official uniform walk past but do not attempt to open the door. By the end of the video, the smoke is so thick that the camera is no longer visible.
Mexico’s interior minister confirmed in an interview with local media that the video was genuine and that the authorities got hold of it shortly after the incident. He does not specify the content further. Alejandra Corona, a representative of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), which visits the facility once a week to monitor conditions, said the video shows a man’s cell. According to her, the only way out was the door, which the men kicked in. Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM), which runs the center, has not yet responded.
The government of El Salvador condemns the “very serious behavior of the personnel of the migration post”. “We demand from the competent authorities a thorough investigation of what happened and bringing the culprits to justice,” the country’s government said in a statement. The victims also include several people from a country in Central America.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said authorities said the fire started around 9:30 p.m. local time when some migrants set fire to mattresses in protest after learning they were about to be deported.
He did not provide details on how so many people could have died in the incident. “They didn’t think it would cause this terrible tragedy,” López Obrador said at a news conference Tuesday night. Most migrants came from Central America and Venezuela. A total of 68 people were in the center at the time of the fire.
It is one of the deadliest wildfires in recent years in Mexico, which along with the United States is battling a growing number of migrants traveling north.
The shelter in question is located in Ciudad Juarez, the largest city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The city borders the American city of El Paso in the state of Texas. Many migrants are stuck in border towns trying to reach the US. Under the new rules, they must apply for asylum before crossing the border. If they fail to do so and cross the border, they will no longer be eligible for asylum.
Source : HLN