Bogota, May 10. Some of the 209 Colombian migrants who returned to the country on a flight from the US this Wednesday, after being deported, denounced the alleged discriminatory practices they suffered by the authorities of that country at the El Dorado airport in Bogotá.
The accusations occur after the controversy that arose last week over the temporary suspension of flights and the denunciation of alleged degrading treatment of migrants.
“I intended to go through the United States to get to Canada,” Mabel, a 33-year-old Colombian woman, told EFE, who explained that she suffered “inhumane treatment” in an immigration detention center in Texas, before being deported to her country.
According to their account, they were forced to hand over their belongings, they were not allowed to bathe or brush their teeth, and the food they were given was in poor condition.
Mabel lamented “the lack of opportunities to present her case” to the US government and stated that they suffered “horrible discrimination.”
“They chained our hands, feet and waists,” said the Colombian, who pointed out that the officers accused her of “carrying cocaine” to the North American country.
The deportee explained that she left Colombia “fleeing” because of “the recruitment of minors in the department of Tolima” due to the armed conflict, a situation that would put her four children at risk.
BETTER OPPORTUNITIES
On the other hand, Jerson, a Colombian who was traveling with his wife and two minor children from Bucaramanga, told EFE that he suffered mistreatment and violations of his human rights during his attempt to cross from Mexico to the United States in search of “better opportunities”.
According to their testimony, the US authorities sent them to jail and divided their family. There they kept them under surveillance 24 hours a day and prevented them from sleeping by keeping lights on.
In addition, the man claimed that he and his son were provided with women’s underwear.
Jerson assured that his intention was to seek a better future for his family, but that the reality they experienced was a lie. Despite the difficulties he faces in his native country, he affirmed that he would not try to enter the United States again and that he will continue working as a carpenter in Colombia.
Upon their arrival in Colombia, Mábel, Jerson and other deportees received a temporary shelter to bathe before returning to their respective departments.
“We provide assistance to 209 compatriots in conditions of vulnerability,” said the Colombian Foreign Ministry on its Twitter account, which stressed that they are making “characterization efforts” and supporting humanitarian care in coordination with other national entities.
ARRIVAL OF MIGRANTS
The migrants arrived in the Colombian capital this Wednesday with the accompaniment of the Ombudsman’s Office after the controversy that arose last week over the temporary suspension of flights and the denunciation of alleged degrading treatment of migrants.
This Wednesday the return flights resumed, which were accompanied by a team of professionals in charge of “collecting the complaints of the returnees, related to possible violations of their rights,” according to the Ombudsman’s Office in a statement.
This resumption supposes the implementation of a pilot plan related to Mother’s Day through which the return to Colombian territory of some 14,000 migrants from the United States is expected in the coming months. EFE
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