On 5-12 October 2019, RRT held a visit to Mexico in the framework of an experience-sharing exchange organized by our American partner organization RSN in collaboration with RRT and Mexican refugee rights NGO Sin Fronteras. During the visit, in addition to a comparative workshop on Turkey and Mexico migration dynamics and various bilateral meetings with Mexican civil society actors, RRT also delivered a presentation at the Mexican Senate, and conducted field observations in the northern border town of Tijuana.
It is often noted that migration dynamics across the Mexico-US border and those along the Turkey-EU border bear significant similarities. While EU and Turkey have been engaged in a comprehensive cooperation dialogue on matters related to migration and asylum since the start of Turkey’s EU accession negotiations in 2006 , most recently reinforced by the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016, the US and Mexico have also recently been involved in multifaceted negotations regarding the handling of transit migratory movements and refugees. Meanwhile, lawyers and NGO rights advocates in both Turkey and Mexico register concerns in regards legal protection challenges encountered by refugees and other vulnerable migrants involved in these transit migration movements and advocate for stronger commitment on the part of pertinent governmental actors to ensure availability of legal aid and other essential types of assistance to the populations concerned.
In the framework of the exchange visit organized by our American partner organization RSN in collaboration with RRT and Sin Fronteras, a 1-day workshop was held at University of California premises in Mexico City with the participation of representatives from Mexican NGOs, universities and research agencies, UNHCR and IOM, to discuss migration in Mexico and Turkey in comparative perspective. RSN and RRT Delegation also had a number of bilateral meetings with NGO counterparts and had an opportunity to address Mexican lawmakers on the ocassion of a hearing hosted by the Mexican Senate. In addition to these exchanges in Mexico City, a field visit was also held to the border town of Tijuana.
Going forward, RRT, in partnership with RSN, intends to continue channeling experiences and perspectives from other national contexts to protection discussions and migration and asylum policy conversations in Turkey, and also the other way around.
