Human Rights Watch: Documents Reveal Grave Violations Against Mexican Asylum-seekers at US Border

Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization concerned with monitoring and documentation of abuses against humans across the world,  has revealed horrific cases of sexual and physical abuse of asylum seekers at the southern border of the United States by local officials.

In its report, the organization noted that a set of revised documents - which were released to the human rights organization after six years of legal wrangling - reveal more than 160 cases of misconduct and abuse by leading US government agencies, notably Customs and Border Protection and American border patrols.

The documents record events between 2016 and 2021 that include allegations of sexual and verbal abuse, due process violations, harsh detention conditions, denial of medical care, and discriminatory treatment at or near the border.

“The behavior of the border and immigration officers cited in these records is astonishing,” said Clara Long, associate director of Human Rights Watch in the United States of America (USA).

Long added that American officials of the Department of Homeland Security pledged to investigate allegations of those abuses committed by the local officials.

For its part, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday, in its comment on the report, that it is conducting an internal audit to overcome abuses and exempt violators from work.

A spokesman for the ministry told the Russian "Novosti"  news agency that the ministry does not tolerate any form of abuse or misconduct.

On the other hand, Human Rights Watch also accused France of adopting a "deterrence policy" towards migrants seeking to cross to Britain, exposing them to "daily humiliation and harassment."

The Human Rights Observers organization, a local French organization, which specializes in monitoring the situation of migrants on the northern French coast, said that in 2020, the French police carried out more than 950 "routine" expulsions in Calais port and 90 operations in Grand-Saint, during which they confiscated five thousand tents and tarpaulins, in addition to hundreds of blankets and sleeping bags.