Ciudad Juárez (Mexico), Apr 21 (EFE).- Migrants on the Ciudad Juárez border demanded this Friday justice for the fire that killed 40 migrants in a Mexican government center after the judicial hearing scheduled for this day was postponed. head of the National Institute of Migration (INM), Francisco Garduño.
“We are all waiting for justice to be done, which is what we hope for, that these cases do not go unpunished, that they appear before the investigative bodies, courts, the Prosecutor’s Office, all, all those who are responsible for assuming that responsibility,” he said. to EFE the Venezuelan Juan Ángel Pavón.
Pavón demonstrated with other migrants this Friday, when the first hearing of the INM director was scheduled for his alleged criminal responsibility in the fire that killed 40 migrants in a detention center on March 27.
Although the hearing was postponed until next Tuesday, the Venezuelan expressed his satisfaction with the decision of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) to summon Garduño to appear.
“For us, it is truly very important that justice be done as it should be, crime is punished, crime, corruption is punished. And at the same time that there is security for everyone, for those who live in this country and transit through it, especially immigrants, ”he said.
Meanwhile, Adrián López, also a Venezuelan, questioned the postponement of the Migration Minister’s hearing.
“Very bad because they really do not respect human rights and because the videos recorded the security guards who at no time made an attempt to help these people,” he said.
He regretted the fate of the people who died in the fire, as he accused the authorities of not complying with the rules established in the detention centers.
“It is sad because many innocent people who had just been caught for just a day died and because of the same authority, who do not comply with the rules that are, so that cigarettes, candles, fire and those things could pass through, and then they forced migrants Desperate that they were going to be deported, he forced them to light that fire,” he said.
HEARING POSTPONED
That day, Garduño appeared at the hearing to which he was summoned by the FGR in Ciudad Juárez, prior to which he stated that his actions after the fire were focused on helping migrants and, later, on repatriating the bodies of the deceased.
“That’s how my performance has been and I’ve been watching, I’ll be here,” he said.
So far, three officials from the INM station where the fire occurred are in provisional prison, in addition to the INM delegate in Chihuahua, Salvador González, who faces charges for the crimes of illegal exercise of public service, injuries and intentional homicide. .
Two guards from a private security company that operated in the immigration station and the migrant who allegedly started the deadly fire are also being detained.
The tragedy has fueled scrutiny over the migration policy of the Government of Mexico, where, according to civil organizations, 2022 was the most tragic year for migrants, as some 900 died trying to cross without documents from the country to the United States.
