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On March 31, a riot was registered inside an immigrant detention center in Tenosique , Tabasco . Authorities reported a person died and 10 others were wounded.
According to the NGO Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, the person who died was a Guatemalan immigrant who was detained after requesting asylum .
Firefighter arrived at the facility to put the fire out and then provided medical attention to the wounded. Health workers and staff from the National Migration Institue ( INM ) were also present.
According to local media, the riot took place because immigrants were afraid of contracting COVID-19 and because there was a lack of food at the detention center.
Migration authorities later reported that 27 immigrants fled the facilities during the riot.
Authorities informed that the National Guard , police officers , Civil Protection , and migration agents opened the door to prevent the fire from hurting the immigrants.
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The fire was intentional so that the migrants could flee the detention center for their home countries, however, Mexico’s southern border is temporarily closed.
Several NGOs, the National Human Rights Commission ( CNDH ), and international organizations have warned that detention centers must guarantee healthy living conditions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 .
After Mexican authorities confirmed the death of a migrant, the UN refugee agency ( UNHCR ), UNICEF , and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights lamented the incident.
The UN explained that the man had requested asylum in Mexico and was detained along with his wife, children, brother, and sister-in-law.
The organization called Mexican authorities to investigate the events in Tenosique .
After the riot , officials from the UNHCR transported 42 asylum seekers to a shelter and explained that the UN refugee commission is helping Mexican authorities to transport the migrants to shelters so that they are not detained while they wait for their request to be approved.
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