Tijuana, June 20, 2019 – In the framework of the commemoration of World Refugee Day, Casa del Migrante in Tijuana held the Forum: « Refuge out of Reach » on June 19, 2019, with the participation of civil society, academic entities, and government bodies. Dr. David FitzGerlad presented this forum
The objective of the event was to bring to the discussion table the most relevant issues in the refugee matter: Mexico as a safe third country, the challenges faced by the civil organizations in the border and the stagnation of refugee applicants at the border.
The « Refuge Out of Reach » conference presented by Dr. David FitzGerald, Professor-Researcher at the University of California at San Diego (USCD) spoke about how rich democracies deter asylum seekers in the United States. In his work, he points out that Australia, the European Union, Canada, and the United States have blocked most of the asylum roads in the last 70 years. It is said that not only are physical barriers like the wall between Mexico and the United States, but there are also other barriers that are hidden. The intention of the forum was to make visible the hidden strategies of the aforementioned countries, which have prevented less than 1% of asylum-seeking refugees from being resettled.
For its part, the event had a plenary session led by Dr. Rafael Alarcón, Professor-Researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, where the topic of Mexico as Third Secure Country and the new agreements between the governments of Mexico and the United States were addressed.