translated from Spanish: Migrants in Hostels in Ciudad Juarez fear for coronavirus crisis

Ciudad Juarez – Every time Reuben learns of the expansion of coronavirus, he says his concern is growing over the overcrowded conditions in which he finds himself in the migrant shelter, where he found refuge with his wife and son as his political asylum process in the United States goes on.
“We are concerned about being like this and not having a proper safeguard,” says the 36-year-old migrant from Brazil who the United States returned to this Mexican border alongside his family under the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP).
Around it are 20 other families with which it stays overnight on mats stretched between the benches of the prayer area and altar of the Messtodist temple the Good Shepherd, located between ravines and dirt streets, to the west of the city.
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In three other buildings of the complex sleep migrants who make their journey alone. In total there are 107 people on the site, 38 are girls and children, reports Pastor Juan Fierro García in charge of the place.
“The news says we shouldn’t be in places with a lot of people, but that’s how we are,” says Rubén, one of the 53 Brazilian migrants who live there and the only one who speaks Spanish.
The overcrowded conditions and the risk of coronavirus in this border region – a confirmed case in Ciudad Juárez and three, in El Paso – turned on the alert in this and other centers of the network of shelters implemented in Juárez, where according to the state authorities of Poblation there are about 300 people of different nationalities.
“We worry because I look at how we are, some cross into the United States and come back here, we ourselves are sick, we have a fever, sore throat,” says Favio, another Brazilian who helps rubén to translate it into Spanish because he only speaks Portuguese.
The situation is complex says Pastor Fierro, while showing an area where forced marches are worked to finish its construction and decrease overcrowding in that shelter.
Migrants also fear that the place was left without a toilet and other basic cleaning and personal grooming supplies are scarce. A situation that also arises at other points that give lodging to migrants, it was reported.
Photo: Rocío Gallegos/ La Verdad Juárez
According to Dirving García coordinator of the Center for Integral Care for Migrants (CAIM) of the State Population Council there are currently 300 foreigners in makeshift shelters in churches of Ciudad Juárez, as well as in the Migrant House and in which the Federal government, the Vicar Lioness, operates.
Another 18,000 foreign migrants reside in rental homes or departments, as well as hotel rooms, where most live in groups, according to official data.
Ruben says they’re concerned about the situation, because some are sick and have no money to buy their medicines.
Some have gone out looking for mouth covers, but there are no in nearby pharmacies and many do not have or what to buy them with, says the man who is the only one of the Brazilians in the hostel who speaks Spanish.
Pastor Fierro says that this day will meet with health authorities for directions to follow in the face of the crisis in the region by coronavirus.
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While an official protocol is being activated, it ensures that some sanitary measures have been taken at its centre, such as the use of disposable dishes, cups and utensils, antibacterial gel began to be provided and migrants were given extreme personal hygiene.
He says they’re worried they won’t be able to provide everything, for example, he said, there is no toilet paper. “They must buy it.”
The centre with the largest number of migrants is the Vicar Lioness, administered by the Federal Government. There the authorities say they have implemented a protocol to receive foreigners arriving in the city.
“They are taken in temperature and checked for any symptoms that might be related to COVID 19. They are asked a questionnaire to find out if they have been in contact with people who have traveled to at-risk locations,” it was reported through the Welfare Delegation in Chihuahua.
En caso de que vengan de zonas de riesgo de coronavirus se les coloca cubreboca, se aísla a la persona en sospecha y se da aviso a la Secretaría de Salud y ya queda bajo su responsabilidad, se dio a conocer.
These conditions are not seen in the other shelters, mainly those operating with citizen supports or civil organisations. Although they have taken sanitary measures, their shortcomings prevent them from fully guaranteeing the health of migrants.
The Migrant House disclosed that, in communication with the authorities, it will establish a protocol to follow, which will become known as the contingency progresses.
The greatest risk in shelters is the condition of overcrowding, according to the managers of the centres and the authorities. In this agrees Ruben who assures that in this condition he has been in the hostel The Good Samaritan who runs the Methodist temple for a month.
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The place looks crowded and there it should wait until May 6, when you have your appointment to appear before a migration judge in El Paso, Texas Court.
“We are concerned about being here so long, more so for how we are and the news that comes to us about what happens to the new virus,” says the man who joined the United States for Mexicali and who was returned with his family to wait in Ciudad Juarez for the process of his asylum claim.
They hope that their waiting at this border will be no more than they estimate, because they also fear that their cases will be prolonged due to restrictions imposed on U.S. territory by coronavirus. Although until this Tuesday the migration hearings in El Paso remained active.
Activate ‘armor’
Migrants in saturated shelters will be rearranged in other shelters, as a risk prevention measure for COVID-19 coronavirus in this border region.
This was made known by Dirvin García of the State Population Council following a meeting with representatives of hostels, authorities and international organizations, which analyzed the prevailing situation and agreed to implement measures to ‘shield’ migrants.
It was also agreed to supply the reception centres with cover covers, antibacterial gel, thermometers, medicines and hygiene products, as well as to distribute information on preventive contingency measures, the State official said.
The overcrowded situation was discussed at a meeting on Wednesday where protocols were agreed to deal with migrants now and in case the risk was raised, Garcia reported.
We are concerned, he added, so they were asked that in these conditions estrangement is vital to curb the spread of the virus.
In addition to these agreed measures, the Migrant’s House decided that it will only give refuge to people presenting a medical certificate showing the condition of their health, the administrator of the place, Blanca Rivera, reported upon leaving the meeting that took place at the CAIM premises.
Darvin Garcia said that provision was not adopted in other shelters, although each may establish additional controls to prevent risks.
The official said the meeting identified returnees and returnees as the most endangered migrants because they come from U.S. detention centers, where COVID-19 expanded rapidly.
Because of this, it was agreed that moving to Phase 2 of the country’s contingency will isolate deportees and political asylum seekers in the United States returned for the first time under the Protocol to Protect Migrants (MPP) program.
Currently, up to 80 returnees are received daily and between 30 and 50 foreigners returned, but it is not known how many of the latter are back into the country, he reported.
Garcia said Mexico is still in Phase 1 because most contagions are imported, but the transition to Phase 2 of the pandemic has already begun.
If this is the case, he said the isolation area can be mounted in the Leona Vicario center, which is run by the Federal Government, where a quarantine area was activated during the chickenpox outbreak last December.
The COORDINATOR of CAIM indicated that it was also agreed to strengthen the presence and review of migrants at the internment points located on the Reforma bridges, known as Lerdo, where returnees are welcomed, and in the Santa Fe, where the deportees arrive.
At these points, people are given their temperature and checked for any symptoms that might be related to COVID 19. They are also asked a questionnaire to find out if they have been in places of risk, he explained.
The meeting was attended by members of the Migrant Network of Ciudad Juarez, the Migrant House, the Integrating Centre for the Migrant Lionesses Vicar, the State Council for Population and Care for Migrants (Coespo), the Beta Group of the National Migration Institute (Inami), Human Rights of the Municipality, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Acnur), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committees.
 
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Original source in Spanish

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