Migrant Dies In Riot At Mexico Facility Over Virus

Mexico City, April 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Apr, 2020 ) :A Guatemalan migrant died and more than 20 were wounded in a riot over coronavirus fears at a holding facility for Central American migrants in Mexico, officials said Thursday.

Around 95 migrants, mostly Hondurans, protested late Tuesday over conditions at the center in southeastern Tabasco state, demanding their release or deportation back to their home countries.

Several people suffered smoke inhalation injuries after the protest turned violent and bedding was set ablaze. An immigration officer was among those wounded, police said.

Ruben Figueroa, an activist with the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, told AFP a Guatemalan migrant had died in the melee.

Mexican immigration authorities provided no information about the incident.

Mexico cracked down on Central American migrants after several caravans made their way to the southern US border in 2018 and 2019, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten Mexico with economic sanctions if it did not take steps to stem the flow of people.

Hundreds of migrants fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are being held in detention centers in Mexico after being rounded up by police.

But deportations were suspended after Guatemala -- Mexico's southern neighbor -- shut its borders on March 16 as an anti-coronavirus measure.