Puerto Aventuras, Q.R. — More than a dozen Haitians have been granted temporary resident visas for the municipality of Solidaridad after a stay in Puerto Aventuras.
When handing out the legal paperwork, Playa del Carmen mayor Laura Beristain said “Welcome to Mexico,” adding that the municipal and federal governments endorse the commitment to work for the good and progress of the families that inhabit the municipality.
The migrants, who arrived in the area last year, were put up in a housing shelter in Puerto Aventuras where they have remained. However this week, Wilson Charles Martial of la Unidad de Atención al Migrante Municipal says 16 have been granted visas on humanitarian grounds.
He says the migrants, who were staying in the shelter in Puerto Aventuras, would leave the shelter in the coming weeks. Martial explained that of the group of refugees, who were brought to the municipality by efforts of Father Alejandro Solalinda Guerra, five have already left after receiving their papers. He says documents will be delivered to another 11 who will leave on Monday, and the last should leave next week.
The City Council of Solidaridad helped the group of migrants with accommodations while defining their immigration status.
“Some already work, others request permission for it,” he said adding that although a new arrival of migrants is not expected, municipal authorities “must be ready.”
“We do not have a program to accept another group, but they always arrive and we must be prepared for that,” he said.
