On International Migrants Day Thursday December 18th at 10 am at the YWCA (733 Beatty Street), Mexican community members, LGBT refugee groups, human rights organizations, and legal experts are calling on the federal government to remove Mexico from the “Designated Countries of Origin” refugee list.

With speakers
– Karla Lottini: Mexican refugee and journalist, member of No One Is Illegal
– Laura Track: Lawyer and Executive Director of West Coast LEAF
– Gil Aguilar: Migrant Workers Dignity Association and Make Mexico Safe
campaign
– Chris Morrisey: Founder of Rainbow Refugee Committee and winner of
Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal

A petition to remove Mexico from the designated countries of origin list has gathered over 1200 signatures. The petition states, “Given the recent suicide of Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez in a Canadian detention center and the current crisis in Ayotzinapa-Guerrero, it is clear that Mexico is not safe for refugees. I want you to remove Mexico from the list of safe countries immediately.”

Petition link: https://www.change.org/p/conservative-government-remove-mexico-from-the-refugee-list-of-safe-countries

Since the Conservative government’s implementation of the Refugee Exclusion Act in 2012, Mexico and forty other countries have been placed on this list. Refugee claimants from these countries face a different legal system and have fewer rights. This enables Canada to fast-tracks deportations to these countries.

“The Canadian government considers Mexico, its North American Free Trade Agreement partner, a safe country for Mexican refugees. But in a glaring example of hypocrisy, the Canadian government frequently advises its own citizens to not travel to parts of Mexico,” states Karla Lottini, a Mexican refugee and journalist.

There are national protests underway in Mexico after the state crime against 43 students of Ayotzinapa’s teachers school. Approximately 160,000 Mexicans have been killed in the drug war. One hundred and two journalists have been killed since 2000. Over seven women are murdered everyday across the country.

This month also marks the one-year anniversary of the tragic death of Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jiménez. Jiménez was so afraid of being deported to Mexico that she committed suicide while under Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) custody.