Mexican President advises US to change policy on migrants
Mexico advises the United States to reconsider its immigration policies, and the Mexican president says such tragedies should move the world.
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Mexico urged the United States to reconsider its immigration policies.
On Friday, Mexico urged the United States to reconsider its migration policies after the tragedy that killed 55 migrants in a truck accident on a major route leading to the United States.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that "tragedies like this should push the world to address the 'underlying problem' -- despair."
Obrador emphasized that the problem of migration cannot be solved through coercive measures, but by opportunities for work and wellbeing. He stressed that "people don't leave their villages for pleasure, they do it out of necessity."
He mentioned that the United States could invest in social programs in Central America, to prevent migration to its shores.
Obrador revealed that most of the deaths in the accident were from Guatemala.
truck holding migrants turns over
The Mexican authorities announced that the victims of Thursday's disaster were from "Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico."
It is not yet clear how many people were on the trailer when it overturned near Tuxtla Gutierrez, the Chiapas state capital.
More than 100 people, most of whom are men, were injured in the accident, officials said on Friday.
First aid teams said that "the migrants were piled up in the truck's trailer," while AFP witnesses reported that the heavy truck hit a wall and overturned.
It is believed that the driver, who fled the scene, lost control of the truck due to speed.
"Visitor visas on humanitarian grounds will be offered to survivors, as well as food and housing," the National Institute for Migration said in a statement.
The institute will coordinate, with local and federal authorities, "to provide consular assistance, identify victims and cover burial costs."
The state of Chiapas, where the accident occurred, is located close to the border with Guatemala and is the gateway for migration from Central America, especially Honduras and El Salvador, to the United States via Mexico.
