URGENT ACTION

Attack On SHELTER FOR MIGRANTS in MEXICO

Staff at a shelter for undocumented migrants in north-eastern Mexico have received repeated threats. The migrants staying at the shelter and the staff working there are in danger.

In the early hours of 11 October, a member of staff at the Belen Migrants shelter (Belén, Posada del Migrante) in Saltillo, Coahuila state, heard loud noises coming from outside the shelter. The member of staff looked out onto the street and saw a group of 12 people running away and the electricity meter had been destroyed leaving the shelter without power.

On 25 October at 2am, staff at the shelter heard threats being shouted from outside the building, such as "fucking faggots" (pinches putos)and "get out of here you dicks"(larguense pendejos),and saw people throwing stones at the shelter, smashing several of the windows and destroying the electricity transformer. Since 14 October, three members of staff (Sister María Guadalupe Argüello, Alberto Xicoténcatl Carrasco and Sandra Luz Albicker Aguilera) have been receiving anonymous phone calls at the office and at home, between 2am and 5am. The caller never speaks, and the only noise is what sounds like a heartbeat.

Since 5 October, Priest Pedro Pantoja Arreola who runs the Belen Migrants shelter has received a series of threatening phone calls to his mobile phone during the night and early hours of the morning telling him "go fuck yourself" (chinga tu madre) and "you'd do better doing something else" (ya mejor dedicate a otra cosa). He has so far received 10 such phone calls.

Shelter staff have filed two complaints with the State Prosecutor's Office (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado, PGJE) but the Office have not opened an investigation into the threats or ordered any effective protection for the shelter and its staff. The State Prosecutor's Office has suggested closing the shelter altogether, as the harassment is unlikely to stop.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Spanish or your own language:

• Expressing concern for the safety of those working at the Belén Migrants’ shelter;

• Calling on the authorities to conduct a full and prompt investigation into the attack on 25 October on the Belén Migrants’ Shelter and into the threats against its workers;

• Calling on the authorities to adopt, without delay, effective protection measures to ensure the safety of those working at the Belén Migrants' Shelter;

• Calling on the authorities to recognise the important and legitimate work of the shelter in providing humanitarian assistance to migrants.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 14 DECEMBER 2009 TO: