Guatemala’s government announced Monday that it has given temporary residency to 207 Mexicans, mostly children, on humanitarian grounds, after they fled across the border last week to flee drug violence.
National Immigration Institute Director Danilo Rivera said they are going to have 30 days of legal status after which they may request asylum in the event that they want.
Officials have registered at the least 44 prolonged families. Domestic and international organizations are supporting the families with donations, Rivera said during a news conference.
Early last week, nearly 600 Mexicans crossed the border into Guatemala, later describing harrowing escapes on foot as drug cartels battled around their communities.
Last week, Catholic Church leaders in southern Mexico made their very own plea for the Mexican government to guard the communities from cartels, which extract protection payments and use locals as human shields.
Two of Mexico’s strongest cartels from the northern states of Sinaloa and Jalisco have been battling for control of smuggling routes within the southern area for greater than a 12 months causing multiple displacements.
