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San Antonio Secortez, Guatemala – Jakelin Caal was eager to go to the United States
The Aboriginal girl Q & # 39; eqchi ', seven years old, told everyone in her small remote village of San Antonio carry the new life that she and her father Nery were going to have.
"She was thrilled to travel," recalls Matin Tut, 52-year-old neighbor of Jakelin. "She talked about it whenever she could," he told Al Jazeera.
Jakelin and Nery traveled to the United States on December 6, crossing the New Mexico border with a group of more than 150 others. They were arrested by customs and border protection officers and arrested on 8 December. The death of Jakelin was pronounced.
More than two weeks later, on Christmas day, Jakelin was buried.
"We barely slept last night," Domingo Caal, Jakelin's grandfather, said, while he was walking down a muddy trail leading to the mere grave of cement blocks that he and Other men from the community had built in a small cemetery.
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| United States [Jeff Abbott/Al Jazeera] |
On Monday, a wake took place, with the visit of neighbors and members of neighboring communities in the family.
"This should be a very special day for them," said Ilvera Cuz, Jakelin's grandmother. "They should prepare tamales to celebrate Christmas, but they have left everything and are here to support us to share this pain."
Another child dies
CBP first announced that Jakelin had died of dehydration and shock, an assertion refuted by the family. . The official cause of death is pending, with the results of the autopsy being finalized.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, who has implemented a "zero tolerance" policy at the border, is under increasing pressure from advocacy groups on how migrants and refugees are treaties at the border and once in detention.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Felipe Gonzalez, called on US authorities to investigate the case.
"The government should also address the shortcomings of the immigration system, and more particularly the US Customs and Border Patrol Agency, to prevent similar situations," Gonzalez said in a statement released earlier this week.
But on Wednesday, CBP announced the death of an eight-year-old Guatemalan child who was in his custody. According to a CBP statement, the boy was first treated at the hospital for colds and released. However, he was transferred to a medical facility after experiencing nausea and vomiting. He died shortly after midnight on December 25th. The cause of death is unknown.
In Search of Better Opportunities
Jakelin and his father were forced to flee to the United States because of extreme poverty, creeping inequalities and lack of financial resources. opportunity in rural Guatemala.
Nery had briefly worked in a palm oil plantation, but according to his brother, Carlos Caal, he was fired after six months for demanding a better salary. The brothers earned 65 quetzales a day (about $ 9), but nearly half of them went every day for transportation and food.
Like many others, they went to the United States looking for better opportunities for themselves and their families.
According to CBP data, more than 72,000 Guatemalans, mostly children or family units, were captured while they were attempting to enter the southern US border between October 2017 and September 2018. Nearly 30,000 others were captured early in the 2019 fiscal year, started in October
At least 30 people emigrated from San Antonio Secortez to the United States in the last three months, said residents.
"We have heard that opportunities are better in other countries," said Tut.
"Two members of the community had already left," he said. "And once we heard about the people who made it, we started making the decision to go."
Tut thought about going there, but the death of Jakelin led him to reconsider his decision.
"His death hurts me and I do not have the will to go now," Tut said. "But who knows what will happen in the future, if the will to go back."
Back on the burial site of Jakelin, the community says a little prayer Q & # 39; eqchi.
Little has been said before that of Jakelin. the body was slowly lowered into the simple plot on a hill that overlooks the fields.
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