U.N. To Install Asylum-Seeker Housing In Mexico

Originally Published in NPR

Alana Wise - July 27, 2020

The United Nations will provide temporary housing units for asylum-seekers in Mexico experiencing protracted waits for a hearing to gain entry to the United States, the agency announced on Monday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees is sending 48 one-room Refugee Housing Units to help alleviate a current housing shortage, according to the Associated Press. Many migrants in the country have found themselves without places to live after a number of shelters stopped accepting new arrivals because of the coronavirus.

Activists in Mexico have called for agency intervention to provide the necessary precautions for unhoused asylum-seekers and deportees from the U.S. to help avoid spreading the virus within shelters. A 47-year-old Honduran man in Sonora died of the virus last week, according to the organization Pueblo Sin Fronteras, which provides shelter for migrants.

"Our priority is the health and the rights of migrant persons who find themselves housed at our shelters and of the communities around them, and we expect commitments from the authorities as well to take action regarding this public health situation which is important for everyone," spokesman Irineo Mujica said in a statement.