President Donald Trump has said the Central American migrants traveling via caravan should seek asylum in Mexico – and threatened that they will be turned away if they reach the U.S. border.
“People have to apply for asylum in Mexico first, and if they fail to do that, the U.S. will turn them away. The courts are asking the U.S. to do things that are not doable!” he tweeted on october 21.
But following through on that threat could violate international law, experts say.
As a signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, Mexico is obligated to protect people who are outside of their country and afraid to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion, race, nationality or membership to a particular social or political group.
Over 1,000 of the Central American migrants traveling toward the U.S. border via a massive caravan have already requested asylum in Mexico.
Since the caravan of migrants, most of whom are from the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, reached Mexico late last week, its numbers have reportedly swollen to include more than 7,000 people.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is currently on the ground in Mexico assisting authorities in ensuring that migrants have access to the country’s asylum system.
Source: Time
