A dozen human rights organizations gathered at the International Workshop for the Right to Migrate free from Violence in Saltillo, and the signatories of the statement call for immediate steps to ensure the effective protection of migrants and defenders of the human rights of migrants from Mexico or Central American countries travelling through Mexico.

Visa for transmigrants
The first of these objectives may most efficiently be reached for Central American citizens either by including a visa for transmigrants in the reforms to the new Migration Law, or by eliminating visa requirements between Mexico and the countries of origin.

The signatories also call for effective prosecution of individuals participating in the criminal organizations responsible for abuse of migrants, and the public officials that aid and abet them, must be secured as soon as possible.

The objective of the workshop was to analyze and discuss how one may secure a more efficient protection of migrants travelling through Mexico, and human rights defenders working for migrants in Mexico, from the severe and escalating abuse registered all over the country during the last few years.

Support Bishop Raúl Vera
The Rafto Foundation co-hosted the International Workshop together with the Diocese of Saltillo, the Belén Shelter for Migrants and the Fray Juan de Larios Human Rights Center of Saltillo, and the Human Rights Center Prodh of Mexico City.

The event was part of the work carried out by the foundation to support the efforts of the recipient of the Rafto Prize for human rights 2010, Bishop Raúl Vera of Saltillo, and sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Present were representatives of the Catholic Church, NGOs from all over Mexico, NGOs operating internationally, and academic experts from Mexico and the USA.

Campaign to end kidnappings of migrants
The statement of demands produced by the workshop was subsequently presented in meetings with Beatriz Paredes, president of the Special Commission on Migration of the House of Representatives; with Fernando Batista Jiménez, Head of the section for migration, journalism, civil rights and human trafficking in the National Human rights commission; with Omeheira López, Head of the Human Rights office at the Ministry of the Interior; and with Senator Jesús Garibay García of the PRD.

The workshop is part of the ongoing campaign to end kidnappings of migrants in Mexico.

Previous initiative
Bishop Raúl Vera has proposed already in March this year to introduce in Mexico a temporary visa for migrants who travel through the country, as part of the revision of state’s migration law.

According to him, the establishment of such a visa should make the several hundred thousand migrants passing through the country each year less vulnerable to assault.

Background
José Raúl Vera López (65), the Catholic bishop of Saltillo, Northern Mexico, was awarded the Rafto Prize 2010 for his struggle for human rights and social justice.

He is an uncompromising critic of power abuse and a fearless defender of migrants, indigenous peoples, and other groups at risk in Mexican society.

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