BREAKING: Migrant caravan: Mexico offers temporary work permits
October 27, 2018 03H:32 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
Related Topics
Image copyright
REUTERS
Image caption
A number of children are travelling with the migrant caravan
by Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Mexico City
Mexico has offered temporary work permits to migrants who register for asylum, as a big caravan of Central American migrants makes its way through the country toward the US.
The plan also envisages temporary ID cards, medical care and schooling.
But to qualify, migrants must remain in Mexico's southern Chiapas and Oaxaca states.
The US has warned that about 800 troops may be sent to the US-Mexico border to stop the migrant caravan.
"I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency," US President Donald Trump said earlier this week. "They [migrants] will be stopped!"
The president also threatened cutting aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The caravan set off from Honduras several weeks ago.
- What is the migrant caravan heading to US?
- Honduran migrants: 'We left because we had to'
- Fake news follows migrant caravan
WHAT ABOUT MEXICO'S PLAN?
The scheme, announced by President Pe?a Nieto, covers Central Americans who have officially asked for a refugee status in Mexico or are planning to do so in the nearest future.
It is called Estas en Tu Casa ("This is Your Home" in Spanish).
Image copyright
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Many from the migrant caravan are forced to sleep rough during their journey
"Today, Mexico extends you its hand," President Nieto said.
But he added: "This plan is only for those who comply with Mexican laws, and it's a first step towards a permanent solution for those who are granted refugee status in Mexico."
The plan envisages:
- Temporary ID cards and work permits
- Medical care
- Schooling for migrants' children
- Housing in local hostels
But President Nieto failed to explain what would happen to the migrants if they chose to carry on regardless.
The Mexican authorities are coming under increasing pressure from the Trump Administration to find a solution to this caravan, the BBC's Central America correspondent Will Grant in the town of Arriaga, Chiapas, reports.
The authorities are trying to tread a balance between placating the US and giving a green light to travel to potential future caravans, our correspondent adds.
WHERE IS THE CARAVAN NOW?
The caravan is presently is in Arriaga.
Most migrants said they had no intention of changing their plans to head to the US.
"The majority plan to cross the border. And that's my intention, too," one man told us at the BBC.
"Because, yes, while life here is calmer than at home, it's still not like the US where it would get better. That's the goal: to have a better life."
Meanwhile, a woman told the BBC: "It's a kind offer - but it's not the plan that we have, to stay here halfway up."
A spokesman for the United Nations said more than 7,000 people had joined the migrant caravan as of 22 October, citing estimates from the International Organization for Migration.
But the group has split up, which makes it difficult to determine the exact number.
The migrants say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
CAN THEY MIGRATE LEGALLY?
On Thursday, Mr Trump once again urged the migrants to stay away, tweeting: "To those in the Caravan, turn around, we are not letting people into the United States illegally."
Media caption
Trump and the facts about the migrant caravan
Many of the migrants say they plan to seek asylum in the US.
There is a legal obligation under international law to hear asylum claims from migrants who have arrived in the US if they say they fear violence in their homecountries.
But in June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that victims of domestic abuse and gang violence would no longer generally qualify for asylum in the US.
Those seeking asylum must be fleeing due to a serious fear of persecution in their home country. Under international law, these are considered refugees.
If an asylum seeker enters the US illegally, they are still entitled to a hearing of their claim.
Economic migrants are those seeking a better quality of life - and even if they are fleeing devastating poverty, they are not considered refugees and do not have the same protections.
The mid-term elections are less than two weeks away and critics say Mr Trump has used the threat of illegal immigration to fire up his supporters.
RELATED TOPICS
SHARE THIS STORY ABOUT SHARING
- Video
- Trump and the facts about the migrant caravan
- 23 October 2018
- Video
- Thousands of caravan migrants reach Mexico
- 22 October 2018
- Fake news follows migrant caravan's journey north
- 24 October 2018
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
Your Brazil election guide in five charts
- 27 October 2018
- From the section
- Latin America & Caribbean
Full article Your Brazil election guide in five charts
Who supports Brazil's far-right candidate?
- 26 October 2018
- From the section
- Latin America & Caribbean
Full article Who supports Brazil's far-right candidate?
What is the migrant caravan heading to US?
- 25 October 2018
- From the section
- Latin America & Caribbean
Full article What is the migrant caravan heading to US?
More Videos from the BBC
- The sick children trapped by Yemen's war
- How I discovered my boyfriend had given me HIV
- Massacre movie's Manchester premiere
- Brexit ‘mixture of failure, denial and delusion'
- Macron plays down UK visa fears
- Flying cars ??
Elsewhere on BBC
Posted by Biodun Iginla at 5:57 PM Email This
Labels: bbc news, Chiapas and Oaxaca states, donald trump, Enrique Pe?a Nieto, ID cards, medical care and schooling, mexico, Migrant caravan, Renee Celeste and Biodun Iginla, temporary work permits, US-Mexico border