UN / MEXICO FOREIGN AFFAIRS BARCENA

STORY: UN / MEXICO FOREIGN AFFAIRS BARCENA
TRT: 02:17
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 22 SEPTEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT

19 SEPTEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior, flags outside UN headquarters

22 SEPTEMBER 2023, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press room dais
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico:
“We have the challenge, a real challenge - and I'll give you some more data - there are many people that are coming from the Darien Gap, around three thousand people a day, and at the southern border six thousand people are arriving, once you add those from Honduras, Guatemala, etc. And on the northern border eight thousand are arriving, even though yesterday we had eleven thousand. And so, this goes beyond the capacity that we can bear, even though Mexico is trying to do a good job, and even in the United States, the border patrol is overwhelmed. They have the capacity to process one thousand a day, and if eleven thousand arrive, it is very difficult.”
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico:
We are processing these refugee applications, and for those people who are accepted in Mexico, we help them to get jobs. We give them temporary residency permits and they can enter the labour market -those who are accepted. Others have to wait to see if they go back to the country of origin or if we find other ways to integrate them.”
7. Med shot, press room dais
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico:
“We're trying to carry out our policies which respect for human rights, the humanitarian protection of migrants. It's not easy. There is a large number of migrants that are coming from very specific nationalities. And what we've done is, the President has instructed us to have a vision which is not only about mobility from the point of view of how many people come in, but also how we are going to tackle the structural causes of migration, how do we go to the countries of origin to offer some alternatives for development. And there we're working with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and, of course with Cuba, and we've tried to work with Haiti. It hasn't been easy, but we are trying.”
9. Wide shot, end of presser

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Alicia Bárcena, today (22 Sep) told journalists that her country is facing “a real challenge” as “around three thousand people a day” are crossing the Darien Gap and heading north towards Mexico and the United States.

Bárcena said, “at the southern border six thousand people are arriving, once you add those from Honduras, Guatemala, etc.”, and eight thousand people are arriving daily at the United States border.

She told journalists that on Wednesday (21 Sep) eleven thousand people arrived at the norther border, which “goes beyond the capacity that we can bear, even though Mexico is trying to do a good job, and even in the United States, the border patrol is overwhelmed.”
Bárcena said, “ware processing these refugee applications, and for those people who are accepted in Mexico, we help them to get jobs. We give them temporary residency permits and they can enter the labour market -those who are accepted. Others have to wait to see if they go back to the country of origin or if we find other ways to integrate them.”

She said, “we're trying to carry out our policies which respect for human rights, the humanitarian protection of migrants but stressed that this is “not easy.”

The Mexican official explained that “there is a large number of migrants that are coming from very specific nationalities” and Mexico is approaching their countries of origin “to offer some alternatives for development.”

She said the government is “working with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and, of course with Cuba, and we've tried to work with Haiti. It hasn't been easy, but we are trying.”