美联社
希望到达美国边境的移民沿着美国危地马拉奇基穆拉的一条高速公路行走
危地马拉城——周六,危地马拉士兵封锁了多达9000名洪都拉斯移民车队的一部分,他们进入该国寻求到达美国边境的地方不远。
许多士兵戴着头盔,挥舞着盾牌和棍子,在靠近洪都拉斯边境的奇基穆拉的一条公路上列队,以阻挡移民的游行。
危地马拉的移居该机构发布了一段视频,显示数百名男子与士兵扭打在一起,推搡着冲过他们的防线,尽管部队还阻挡了数百人。
危地马拉总统亚历杭德罗·贾马泰特发表声明,呼吁洪都拉斯当局“遏制其居民的大规模撤离”周五,这些移民越过大约2000名部署在边境的警察和士兵进入危地马拉;大多数人进来时没有表现出消极的一面冠状病毒危地马拉要求的测试。
“危地马拉政府对这一侵犯国家主权的行为感到遗憾,并呼吁中美洲各国政府采取措施,避免其居民在这场流行病造成的卫生紧急情况中面临风险,”贾马泰特的声明继续说。
危地马拉已经在高速公路上设立了近12个控制点,并可能像以前一样,开始运送更多的移民回洪都拉斯,称他们在冠状病毒大流行期间旅行会对自己和他人构成风险。
该地区各国政府已经明确表示,他们不会让商队通过。
墨西哥继续训练数千名国民警卫队成员移居南部边境的特工,为了阻止商队穿越边境墨西哥。
周五晚上,两组各有3000多名洪都拉斯移民未经登记就进入危地马拉,他们是黎明前离开洪都拉斯圣佩德罗苏拉市的大型移民车队的一部分。第三组于周六进入危地马拉。
洪都拉斯移民正试图穿越危地马拉到达墨西哥受贫困加剧和希望如果他们能到达美国边境会受到更好的接待的驱使。然而,墨西哥、危地马拉和洪都拉斯已经放弃了之前几次组建大篷车的尝试。
周五,大约凌晨4点,这些移民从圣佩德罗苏拉出发,年轻人和整个家庭都带着熟睡的孩子。一些人很快就被抓到了,而另一些人在警察的护送下沿着高速公路行走。
来自圣佩德罗苏拉的19岁劳工马伊诺·加西亚周五早上在高速公路上行走时背着一个紫色背包。他说他害怕这次旅行,但愿意冒这个险。“(飓风)埃塔和伊托摧毁了我们所有的家园,”他说。
“别无选择”,25岁的奥斯卡·扎尔迪瓦说,他是科夫拉迪亚的一名司机。“你必须离开这里,这个国家,因为我们会死在这里。”
红十字国际委员会周五在一份声明中表示,“新冠肺炎、社会排斥、暴力和与气候相关的灾难同时发生,其规模在中美洲前所未有,这带来了新的人道主义挑战。”
移民们离开的时候不确定他们能走多远。地方政府最近似乎比以往任何时候都更加团结一致地阻止他们的进步。
墨西哥国家移民研究所所长弗朗西斯科·加迪尼奥·亚涅斯(Francisco Garduo Yáez)周五在一份声明中表示,墨西哥必须“保障我们的国家领土”,并呼吁“在尊重人权和人道主义政策的情况下,实现有序、安全和合法的移民。”
周三,由11个国家组成的移民问题区域会议“对非正常移民面临的健康和生命高风险表示关切,主要是在健康紧急情况下。”
周四,墨西哥官员表示,他们已经与美国当选总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)挑选的国家安全顾问杰克·沙利文(Jake Sullivan)讨论了移民问题,并讨论了中美洲北部和墨西哥南部发展的可能方案,“以应对大流行和该地区最近的飓风造成的经济危机”。
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埃斯卡隆在洪都拉斯圣佩德罗苏拉报道。
Guatemala tries blocking caravan of 9,000 Honduran migrants
GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemalan soldiers blocked part of a caravan of as many as 9,000 Honduran migrants Saturday at a point not far from where they entered the country seeking to reach the U.S. border.
The soldiers, many wearing helmets and wielding shields and sticks, formed ranks across a highway in Chiquimula, near the Honduras border, to block the procession of migrants.
Guatemala’simmigrationagency distributed a video showing a couple of hundred men scuffling with soldiers, pushing and running through their lines, even as troops held hundreds more back.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei issued a statement calling on Honduran authorities “to contain the mass exit of its inhabitants.” On Friday, the migrants entered Guatemala by pushing past about 2,000 police and soldiers posted at the border; most entered without showing the negativecoronavirustest that Guatemala requires.
“The government of Guatemala regrets this violation of national sovereignty and calls on the governments of Central America to take measures to avoid putting their inhabitants at risk amid the health emergency due to the pandemic,” Giammattei’s statement continued.
Guatemala has set up almost a dozen control points on highways, and may start busing more migrants back to Honduras, as it has done before, arguing they pose a risk to themselves and others by travelling during the coronavirus pandemic.
Governments throughout the region have made it clear they will not let the caravan through.
Mexico continued to drill thousands of National Guard members andimmigrationagents on its southern border, in a show of force meant to to discourage the caravan from crossing intoMexico.
On Friday night, two groups of more than 3,000 Honduran migrants each pushed their way into Guatemala without registering, part of a larger migrant caravan that had left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula before dawn. A third group entered Guatemala Saturday.
The Honduran migrants are trying to cross Guatemala to reachMexico, driven by deepening poverty and the hope of a warmer reception if they can reach the United States border. However, several previous attempts at forming caravans have been broken up by Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.
On Friday, the migrants set out at about 4 a.m. from San Pedro Sula, young men and entire families carrying sleeping children. Some quickly caught rides while others walked along the highway escorted by police.
Mainor Garcia, a 19-year-old laborer from San Pedro Sula, carried a purple knapsack as he walked along the highway early Friday. He said he was scared about the journey, but willing to run the risk. “(Hurricanes) Eta and Iota destroyed all of our homes,” he said.
“There’s no choice” but to leave, said 25-year-old Oscar Zaldivar, a driver from Cofradia. “You have to leave here, this country because we’re going to die here.”
The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement Friday that "The combination of COVID-19, social exclusion, violence and climate-related disasters that occur at the same time with a magnitude seldom seen before in Central America raises new humanitarian challenges.”
The migrants leave with little certainty about how far they will make it. Regional governments have recently appeared more united than ever in stopping their progress.
Francisco Garduño Yáñez, head of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, said in a statement Friday that his country has “to guarantee our national territory” and called for "an orderly, safe and legal migration with respect for human rights and with humanitarian policies.”
On Wednesday, the 11-nation Regional Conference on Migration “expressed concern over the exposure of irregular migrants to situations of high risk to their health and their lives, primarily during the health emergency.”
On Thursday, Mexican officials said they had discussed migration with U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and discussed a possible program for the development of northern Central America and southern Mexico "in response to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and the recent hurricanes in the region.”