Excerpts from this statement posted on the “Tlachinollan” Human Rights Centre website include:
“Organizations committed to defending human rights in Mexico express our deep concern regarding the statements made by the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare of the state of Guerrero, Omar Estrada Bustos, in which he claims that the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre ‘recruits’ farmworkers for companies not affiliated with the National Employment Service.
These statements are not only inaccurate, but they also distort and delegitimize the historical work of the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre…
The organization documents labor and human rights violations, strengthens capacity for advocacy, and maintains support centers such as the Comprehensive Services Unit (USI), also known as the Day Laborer’s House, in Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero, where thousands of families receive food, medical care, and shelter each year during their migration journeys.
Tlachinollan does not act as a labor intermediary in its creation; rather, it registers, documents, and supports the day laborer families.
Many farmworker families are forced to accept jobs offered or advertised in various locations, including the Comprehensive Services Unit (USI) and its surrounding areas, and to work in undignified conditions that violate their rights. These families continue to migrate in extremely vulnerable situations, facing extortion by organized crime and abuse by municipal and state police, while in the agricultural fields, conditions of labor exploitation persist amidst a constantly weakening labor inspection system and a lack of clarity and transparency.”
The full statement can be read here.
Signatories of this statement include among many others the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project, Oxfam Mexico, the National Network of Agricultural Day Laborers, the Network of Women Trade Unionists, and the Center for Reflection and Labor Action (CEREAL-Guadalajara) within the National Network of Civil Human Rights Organizations ‘All Rights for All’ (Red TDT).
As noted here on the PBI-Mexico website: “Because of its serious security situation, PBI has accompanied the ‘Tlachinollan’ Human Rights Center since late 2003.”
