Migrant Camp On Mexico’s Border Limits the Spread of COVID-19 | Best Countries | US News
▻https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-12-17/migrant-camp-on-mexicos-border-limits-the-spread-of-covid-19
Throughout the pandemic, between 600 and 2,000 asylum-seekers from across Latin America have lived at the camp at any given time, as they await their court dates in the United States. Some have been there for more than a year under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), a program that began sending asylum-seekers to dangerous Mexican border cities in January 2019 to await their court dates. Others were told to wait their turn on a so-called metering list that limits the number of cases U.S. border officials hear each day.During the pandemic, the U.S. pushed back court dates for asylum-seekers in MPP and began turning back almost all border crossers, citing an obscure public health rule. It seemed inevitable that the squalid tent camp, often smelling of urine and crawling with mosquitoes, would become a petri dish for the coronavirus. But it wasn’t until June, three months after Mexico’s first case, that a migrant at the camp tested positive.
Now, in December, as cities along the Texas border and across the U.S. report surging cases, the Matamoros tent camp has – seemingly miraculously – avoided the devastation predicted in the early days of the pandemic, with only a few dozen mild cases reported since June. Meanwhile, the border state of Tamaulipas – where Matamoros is located – has reported more than 37,000 cases. Aid workers and health officials working in the Matamoros tent camp say early preparations, listening to the community, and adapting to their needs were some of the keys to their success.
Global Response Management (GRM), an international NGO that works in conflict zones, first set up shop in Matamoros in September 2019. When news of the pandemic reached the camp in March, doctors and coordinators started to prepare for the new threat.They took stock of the challenges: unsanitary conditions, close living quarters, distrust in authorities and overall poor health literacy. Full adherence to social distancing and isolation measures was going to be difficult given the living conditions and limited resources of the migrants there, according to Sam Bishop, GRM project manager in Matamoros.So they started making their plans accordingly.
GRM prepared isolation areas, stocked the clinic with ventilators and other necessary equipment, and ramped up testing. It began building a 20-bed pop-up clinic to treat patients. Workers also started handing out Vitamin D tablets and masks, knowing the migrants themselves wouldn’t have the resources to buy them.When the staff at GRM did all they could to medically prepare for potential cases, they turned to educating the population about COVID, the risks, and how to keep themselves safe. It was a tough task for a group of people who are “naturally mistrustful,” according to Bishop.
The migrants at the Matamoros tent camp have fled gang violence, political persecution and humanitarian crises in their home countries. They’ve traveled thousands of miles through jungles and deserts to try to reach safety. But under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, legal avenues to asylum have been cut off.
Before the Remain in Mexico policy, most would have been released to sponsors in the U.S. while their asylum cases were ongoing. Instead, they have been shunned to Mexico, where they are vulnerable targets to extortion, kidnapping and sexual violence by criminal groups. The migrants sent back started a camp at the port of entry in Matamoros, thinking it would give them some protection from violence and that Mexican and U.S. authorities couldn’t ignore them if they are camped out at the door. Even before the pandemic, attempts by Mexican authorities to relocate migrants caused an uproar in the camp and most refused to leave.
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