紐時賞析／挨批不人道…為了討好美國 墨西哥正把移民推回南部

墨西哥爲安撫拜登政府，用巴士將移民運至墨西哥南部。(圖／123RF)

To Appease U.S. Officials, Mexico Is Pushing Migrants Back South

爲了討好美國 墨西哥正把移民推回南部

The buses rumble into town day and night, dumping migrants in a city many didn’t even know existed.

巴士日夜不停隆隆作響開進小鎮，將移民扔在個許多人甚至不知道存在的城市。

But instead of landing closer to the U.S. border, they are being hauled roughly 1,000 miles in the opposite direction — deep into southern Mexico in a shadowy program meant to appease the Biden administration and ship migrants far from the United States.

但巴士不是將人載往美國邊界，而是背道而馳1000英里，深入墨西哥南部，這是一個鮮爲人知的計劃，目的是將移民大老遠地從美國運到墨西哥，安撫拜登政府。

Mexican authorities rarely publicly acknowledge the busing program.

墨西哥當局很少公開承認這個用巴士運人的計劃。

Yet the program is exposing the chasm between the Mexican government’s rhetoric promoting a humanitarian approach to migration, and the country’s role as a heavy-handed enforcer of U.S. border objectives, leaving many migrant families stranded to fend for themselves.

然而，這個計劃正在揭露墨西哥政府發揚對移民採取人道做法的辭令，以及該國作爲美國邊境目標嚴厲執法者角色之間的鴻溝，丟下許多移民家庭陷於困境、自謀生路。

“I asked the agents, ‘How can you treat us like dirt?’” said Rosa Guamán, 29, from Ecuador. She was detained with her husband and two children by migration agents in April near the border city of Piedras Negras. Nobody told them they were being taken to Villahermosa, in southeastern Mexico, until they were well on their way.

29歲的羅莎．瓜曼來自厄瓜多，說「我問幹員們，『你們怎麼能不把我們當人看？』」。她在4月跟丈夫與2個孩子一起，在邊境城市彼德拉斯內格拉斯附近，被移民幹員拘留。沒人告訴他們，他們正被送往墨西哥東南部的比亞埃爾莫薩，直到他們已經上路。

At an overcrowded shelter in Villahermosa, she described the ride as the most dispiriting part of a monthslong journey that included trekking across swaths of jungle, threats of sexual assault and bribing Mexican officials with the hope of getting to New Jersey.

在比亞埃爾莫薩一處人滿爲患的庇護所，她把這趟旅行說成長達數月的行程中，最令人沮喪的一段，包括跋涉穿過大片的叢林、性侵的威脅，以及抱着前往新澤西州的希望賄賂墨西哥官員。

“We’re starting over from zero,” Guamán said.

瓜曼說，「我們正從零重新開始」。

Mexico’s National Migration Institute declined to comment. Officials there sometimes frame the detention and transfers of migrants in humanitarian jargon as “rescues” or “dissuasion” aimed at easing conditions in dangerous, overcrowded areas.

墨西哥國家移民局拒絕發表意見，該局官員有時以人道行話，將移民的拘留和轉移界定爲「救援」或「勸阻」，意欲緩解危險、人滿爲患區域的情況。

But the busing program is anything but humanitarian, according to immigration lawyers, rights groups and shelter operators in Mexico. The rules for busing migrants south of the border are often cloaked in obscurity — or publicly ignored by authorities.

但，墨西哥的移民律師、人權組織跟庇護所經營者表示，這個巴士運人計劃根本不人道。用巴士運送邊境以南移民的法規往往以晦澀掩蓋，或者遭當局公然忽視。

In December, migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border exploded to their highest level on record. Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Mexico City for emergency talks aimed at pressing Mexico’s government to do more to curb migration.

去年12月，美國和墨西哥邊境的移民衝突激增至正式紀錄的最高程度。國務卿安東尼．布林肯飛往墨西哥市舉行緊急會談，旨在催促墨西哥政府採取更多措施以遏止移民。

Almost immediately after, charter flights and buses started dropping large numbers of people in Villahermosa.

幾乎緊接之後，包租航班和巴士開始在比亞埃爾莫薩拋下大量的人。

A senior White House official who was not authorized to speak publicly said the United States does not dictate what measures Mexico should take to curb migration.

一位未獲授權公開發言的資深白宮官員表示，美國並未指定墨西哥應該採用什麼樣的措施來遏止移民。

文／Simon Romero and Paulina Villegas　譯／周辰陽