The fate of the 72 undocumented migrants, 14 of whom were women, is just one of the many cases of abuses committed against migrants, especially the undocumented. Already, the National Human Rights Commission of the Mexican Government has reportedly received 10,000 cases of migrant kidnappings in the first half of 2010 in Mexico.
“While criminal elements were the ones who pulled the trigger, the Mexican government should also hold itself responsible for being unable to curb kidnappings and murders of migrant workers by criminal syndicates.
Reportedly, these criminal elements operate rampantly especially in routes taken by migrants going to the United States and are abetted by corrupt officials and even corrupt police,” Bultron said.
The group said that the inability of the Mexican government to provide protection to migrants – both to their millions of nationals in the US and to migrants in Mexico – puts into serious question how the upcoming meeting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development or GFMD will go as Mexico currently sits as its Chair.
“Will this constitute Mexico’s showcase of how they treat migrant workers? We do hope not,” he added.
Bultron said that the upcoming meeting of the GFMD should take seriously discuss the protection of the rights of migrant workers. He said that in its past meetings, the GFMD only paid lip service to these while actually focusing on the profits generated through forced labour migration by sending countries as well as the receiving countries.
“Our labour and our lives are not disposable commodities. Mexico and the frontline leaders of the GFMD should finally start to work towards delivering concrete protection and services to the millions of migrant workers around the world. More importantly, they should start working towards genuine progress and development for the people so that forced migration – that can lead to brutal endings such as what happened to the Mexico 72 – will finally be stopped,” he concluded.
