Lankan seeks asylum in Mexico after long journey
MEXICO: Every year, hundreds of thousands of people cross the
porous border between Central America and Mexico. Most are escaping
poverty in countries such as Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador and
ultimately seeking a better life in North America.
But several hundreds are escaping persecution in their home
countries. The Mexican Commission of Aid to Refugees (COMAR) says that
last year 476 people applied for asylum in Mexico, including 296 in the
southern Mexican border province of Chiapas.
The bulk of these asylum seekers are from countries in Central and
South America, but many - like Sri Lankan fisherman Thasan - have come
from other continents, either on their own or with the help of
smugglers. Most expect to reach the United States or Canada and apply
for asylum there.
Unlike most of the asylum seekers from other continents, Thasan never
planned to come to the Americas. He said he stowed away on a passenger
liner in the Maldive Islands last year, hoping to find sanctuary in
Europe - he got a shock when he sneaked off at the first port of call
and found himself in Guatemala.
That was a mistake, but once in the Central American nation he
decided to join the undocumented flow of migrants and refugees
travelling north to neighbouring Mexico, where locals and the media tend
to regard them all as illegal immigrants and behind various ills,
including delinquency and arms and narcotics trafficking.
Driving him on were painful memories from Sri Lanka. The Indian Ocean
tsunami struck on December 26, 2004 killing his parents and his sister.
The natural disaster led to a lull in hostilities, but Thasan says
that in 2006 the LTTE came back looking for him. He and three other
forced recruits looked for a way to escape. He cadged a lift on a
fishing boat to the Maldives, where his fateful journey to the Americas
began.
Once in Guatemala, Thasan headed north, crossed the Suchiate River
and reached the southern Mexican city of Tapachula, where the UN refugee
agency monitors mixed migratory flows along the border in a search for
refugees and asylum seekers.
Since Hurricane Stan destroyed much of the infrastructure in Central
America in October 2005, including 300 kilometres of railway lines, the
bulk of those following the northbound mixed migratory routes enter
Mexico on foot and mostly with the help of smugglers. It is an arduous
and often dangerous journey.
Unlike most of those using the mixed migratory routes, including
other refugees, Thasan decided he wanted to seek asylum in Mexico and so
sought out the Shelter Belen for Migrants, UNHCR’s implementing partner
in Tapachula. After talking to the priest who runs the shelter, he
turned up at the COMAR office and applied for refugee status.
While Thasan waited for a decision about his status, he started
taking Spanish lessons at the Autonomous University of Chiapas. “I have
met a British and a French girl at the university. Everybody is nice to
me. Here everything is normal,” said Thasan, who has received an
allowance from UNHCR and help from fellow colleagues.
“A Colombian refugee family who live nearby helped me. They gave me a
radio and a kitchen set, and another neighbour gave me a mattress,” he
said, while adding: “I wish I could get my driver’s licence soon so I
can start working.”
Thasan seems content to settle in Mexico, though he admits that he
feels lonely at times. It is harder for the displaced from other
continents to integrate locally - they look different, they don’t speak
the language, they have different customs and cuisine.
But Thasan, who was granted refugee status in March, said he wants to
make a go of things and find a new family to replace his lost kin. “Will
I marry a Mexican girl? Why not! But you see, my culture is different.
You only marry one time in your life, so you can’t spoil it.”
UNHCR |
