TSF mission in Latin America
More than 50,000 people have applied for asylum in Mexico since the beginning of May 2023. The growing number of people fleeing violence and natural disasters in Latin America and in the Caribbean led Mexico to become one of the major hosting country for displaced populations in the region.
TSF’s main objective in Latin America is to provide displaced people with essential and reliable information during their long and difficult journeys. TSF has set up multiple remotely-controlled screens that display relevant information in migrant shelters, along the main migratory routes throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia.
Inès Guittonneau
Visiting the shelter
Alma-Angelica, a shelter manager, shares her experience and her insights on our work diffusing essential information to displaced communities in Mexico.
La Casa De La Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones is a migrant shelter in Mexico. In August, Yunuen, a TSF field officer working in Mexico, interviewed shelter-manager Alma-Angelica, who shared her experience and insights on the Information Diffusion project in La Casa de La Misericordia.
“Many of the migrants have been able to clarify some of their doubts and have said: 'Hey, I saw this on the screen, this is true'. They are aware of the latest news that is coming out.”
Read Alma-Angelica’s entire interview:
“Good afternoon, my name is Alma Angelica, I am the director of the shelter Casa De La Misericordia y de Todas las Naciones. We are located in Nogales, on the outskirts of the city. We are in one of the neighborhoods that are on the edge of the city, which is a very popular neighborhood for migrants. We have a diverse population coming in; entire families, single women with children and single women alone. All of them are at a high risk of vulnerability.
The maximum group that we have is 120 people. Our capacity is for more, but for sanitary regulations, we have 120 people on a daily basis. We are generally full everyday. We have had a very positive experience with the information screens so far, because we have been active since 2020, which was the time of the pandemic, in 2021 they brought us the screen and thanks to it many of the migrants have been able to clarify some of their doubts and have said: "Hey, I saw this on the screen, this is true”. They are aware of the latest news that is coming out. This contributes to keeping them informed.
I am happy because it is a way of connecting what is happening on one border with another border because we realize what is happening in Matamoros, in Tijuana, and we know where and when information comes out. We share the same information as international organizations such as HIAS, IOM, UNHCR, ICRC, which is also good information for all migrants.
We installed the screen in the dining room and it is turned on during breakfast, lunch and dinner. There is a coordinator who turns it on everyday and when migrants are there in the dining room, they are attentive to what is shared on the screen. Thank you very much."
Watch the full interview here 👇
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