Mexico Plan of Action for refugees is world’s most sophisticated, UN refugee chief says
Reviewing the landmark Mexico Plan of Action to safeguard refugees in Latin America, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres said it is the world’s most sophisticated instrument to protect and help those fleeing their homes and their countries.
“The spirit of solidarity between neighbours is the best guarantee for refugees,” he told ambassadors and government delegates at a meeting at the UN complex in Geneva on the blueprint endorsed last November by 20 Latin American Governments.
“The plan makes a crucial link between internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees – protection and durable solutions for one group must include the other – and elaborates practical methods to assist the internally displaced. This must happen within the UN collaborative approach and will require commitment, clear thinking and additional funding,” he said.
Set against the 40-year old conflict in Colombia, which has forced the displacement of over 3 million men, women and children inside and outside the country, the Mexico Plan of Action proposes concrete measures, including working to achieve self-sufficiency and local integration in the cities.
It would also stimulate social and economic development in border areas to benefit refugees and the local population, and establish a programme of resettlement in Latin America as a way to ease pressure on those countries receiving large numbers of refugees.
In addition, the action-oriented plan would improve the asylum systems and the protection capacity of governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), using such programmes as updated training for border authorities.
Discussions are continuing on the content of new draft legislation on asylum and on refugee status determination procedures with the authorities of Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama and Uruguay, it said.
With regard to resettlement, Argentina signed an agreement with UNHCR in June 2005 and was scheduled to welcome about 40 Colombian refugees currently in Ecuador and Costa Rica before the end of the year. Among other moves forward, Chile was hosting some 100 resettled refugees from Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran, Iraq, Colombia and Cuba, UNHCR said.
More: un.org
Belize and Mexico talk border security issues
Diplomatic ties between Belize and Mexico are strengthened tonight thanks to a bi-lateral programme designed to curb illegal activities in border areas. News Fives Janelle Chanona has the details.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Today more than forty Mexican and Belizean law enforcement officials met in the old capital for a round of technical talks on national security strategies.
Gerald Westby, Police Commissioner, Belize
We have a memorandum of understanding that directs this action plan. Once we have set out this action plan, we have a timetable. Well place a timetable on the action plan and well start to work
Labour Minister attends Mexico conference
Minister of Labour, Public Administration & Empowerment Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro is representing Antigua & Barbuda at the two-day 14th Inter-American Conference of Ministers of Labour (IACML) in Mexico City.
The conference, which began yesterday, is being held under the theme: “People and their Work at the Heart of Globalisation”.
Its main objective is the consideration and adoption of the declaration and plan of action of Mexico by the ministers of labour of the member countries of the Organisation of American States.
This plan of action will be considered by the Heads of State and Government at their fourth
Mexico's water chief hints at Bajagua OK
Mexico's top water official said this week that his agency would probably back a controversial proposal by a San Diego company to build and operate a sewage treatment plant in Mexico.
“We would need to see the actual plans, but I believe the position . . . would be in favor of the project,” Cristóbal Jaime Jácquez, director of Mexico's National Water Commission, said following a tour of a sewage-pumping facility in Tijuana's Laureles Canyon.
The unusual proposal by Bajagua LLC has generated some opposition north of the border. But in Mexico, there
The Mexico Fund, Inc. Declares Largest Dividend in its History; Announces Terms of Upcoming In-Kind Repurchase Offer
The Mexico Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MXF - News) announced that the Board of Directors has declared the payment of the Fund's largest cash distribution per share since its inception in June 1981. The Board has declared a cash dividend of $2.909 per share, payable on January 23, 2006 to stockholders of record on December 21, 2005. The dividend is comprised of $0.8461 ordinary income, which includes $0.2213 of short-term capital gains and $2.0629 of long-term capital gains. This dividend is equivalent to 10.4%
Fox Optimistic U.S. Will Adopt Compromise Plan on Mexico Border
Mexican President Vicente Fox said hes optimistic the U.S. Congress will adopt a compromise immigration plan and reject the xenophobia of ultra-right wingers.
Fox criticized President George W. Bushs plan to slow Mexican migrants -- who cross at a pace of about 1,400 a day -- by manning the border with 6,000 National Guard troops. Fox said a Senate plan endorsed by Bush to build a 350-mile wall along the border would be a waste of money.
If were going to reach an accord, the National Guard isnt necessary, Fox,
Mexico's Fox Raps U.S. on Plan for Fence
Mexican President Vicente Fox Calls U.S. Plans to Build Fence on Southern Border 'Shameful'
Mexican President Vicente Fox stepped up his attacks on the United States plan to build a fence along its southern border on Sunday, saying it was a "shameful" initiative for a democracy.
Fox said barriers between nations belonged to the last century and had been torn down by popular uprisings, referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
"This wall is shameful," Fox said at an event for migrants in his home state of Guanajuato.
More: abcnews.go.com
MEXICO'S PLAN PUTS AMERICAN VALUES TO THE TEST
Behind the illegal immigrants waving Mexican and Salvadoran flags in Los Angeles last week; behind the Mexican girl in Arlington, Va., who was quoted as saying on radio, "Citizens -- what are they for? We do all the work"; behind the antiquated calls for taking back the Southwest in the name of a Mexican Aztlan -- there is a plan.
I am not saying that this plan, propagated by Mexico City, could challenge the lies, secrecy and Machiavellian scheming of American war plans in the Middle East. I am not saying that
Mexico's former finance minister appointed OECD chief
Mexico's former Finance Minister Angel Gurria, has been formally appointed chief of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the OECD said in a statement.
Gurria, 55, is to replace Canadian Donald Johnston as the research institution's secretary general on June 1, 2006.
Mexico is the only Latin American member of the OECD which consists of 30 member states.
Source: news.xinhuanet.com
Mexico opposes US plan to build more barriers along border
Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said Wednesday that Mexico opposed the US plan to build more separation walls along the border between the two countries.
The plan will not help resolve the problem of illegal migration that bothers the two countries, Derbez told reporters.
The Mexican objection to the walls is not directed against the United States or President George W. Bush but rather the country's long-standing stance on migration, he said.
Mexico opposed walls along any borders, anywhere in the world, including the ones in Gaza, said the foreign
Mexico Travel Myth 1: Mexico Means Super Cheap Travel
Is Mexico cheaper than the US? It can be. Doing the resort thing in a Mexico resort like Cancun, for instance, can be as spendy as any high-end hot spot, but south of Cancun, super sweet Tulum is too cool and cheap ($25/day is doable). Acapulco will be $100 or more, and mostly well worth it if you want heart of the action and do the downtown scene in hotels on the Costera.
Learn about street food and more if budget Mexico travel is your plan. Dont expect to get by on
