On Tuesday, about a dozen migrants trying to enter Mexico’s southern border sewed their mouths shut in an attempt to persuade Mexico’s immigration officials to grant them access so they can travel to the U.S.
The migrants, mostly from Central and South America, assisted each other by sealing their lips using a needle and a thread, leaving only a small space open to consume liquids. They used alcohol to clean the drops of blood from their mouths from the stitches.
“The migrants are sewing their lips together as a sign of protest. We hope that the National Migration Institute can see that they are bleeding, that they are human beings, ” expressed Irineo Mujica, an activist from the organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras, at the demonstration.
Some had their children with them as they participated in the emotional protest, which took place in Tapachula, a Guatemalan city that’s been filled with thousands of migrants waiting for their immigration procedures.
The number of migrants seeking shelter in Mexico has skyrocketed in recent years. Most are fleeing the poverty, violence, and prosecution they experienced in their home country.
Mexico’s migration agency receives thousands of new applications per day and said it continues to process cases and prioritize the most vulnerable, such as children and people with disabilities. In 2021, they recorded an 84% increase in the number of asylum applications.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently suggested Mexico should consider new aid programs amid a surge in migrants, many of them Venezuelans, for whom Mexico now requires a visa.
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