Tapachula (Mexico), Mar 19 (EFE).- Thousands of migrant children who arrive at the southern border of Mexico accompanying their parents in the exodus from their countries face problems such as malnutrition, lack of access to food and medicine, for which the help of non-governmental organizations have been a relief and strength for them and their families.
Martha González, a Honduran migrant, who travels with her husband, daughter and four minor children, who have left due to problems of violence and insecurity, has been one of the beneficiaries of these groups that help migrants in Tapachula, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
“Here they let us know that we live and we have how to move forward and now, well, we are looking for a new life and we are being cared for in Mexico,” González told EFE.
González said that getting sick represents a true viacrucis, because they are migrants and the most worrying thing is the minors, so they have to take hold of anywhere to get the medicines.
Faced with this situation, organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), in alliance with Adra and the Committee for Aid to Disasters and National Emergencies (Cadena) provide medical care to migrants who are in shelters.
According to figures from UNICEF itself, so far in 2023 alone they have cared for some 4,000 migrant children in Chiapas.
Isabel Velasco Luna, head of Unicef in Chiapas, indicated that since last year, they have provided 17,500 services to children with malnutrition, as she explained that at the southern border, of about 20 children who arrive, two come with some degree of malnutrition.
Marcelino Urbina, a 37-year-old Honduran, left his country due to political problems and lack of employment, with a niece and two children, who have managed to reach Tapachula to seek asylum.
The Urbina family has found help with government organizations, where they have been provided with a cleaning kit, groceries, medicines, and medical care.
“We are aware that we are migrants, and they (non-governmental organizations) do not have an obligation to us, but they have done it, although it is not enough for everyone waiting for an opportunity to work in Mexico,” Marcelino said.
Urbina does not have the idea of migrating to the United States as thousands of people do, since he assured that if he is granted papers in Mexico and can work, he will stay in some state in the north.
For migrants like Marcelino and Martha, these groups have been a relief in their passage through Mexican territory, since they provide them with medical attention and have a program based on nutrition, they provide clean water, delivery of hygiene kits, and hand washing to minors.
In this border municipality, some of the challenges faced by Unicef personnel are the language, an incomplete vaccination schedule, and the presence of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases.
In Tapachula there is a special interest in children on the move, due to the conditions in which they arrive and unfortunately this is constant despite the fact that the authorities provide all the services and are at their maximum capacity.
“We believe that they are exceeded and that is why we work hand in hand with the Government to strengthen what they give,” added Velasco Luna.
