Overview:
The Assist Group for Repatriated and Refugees (GARR) is asking for a radical investigation and accountability after two younger Haitian women have been discovered useless in a septic tank at a migrant transit middle in Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico, on Feb. 20. The group condemned the ability’s security failures amid allegations of abuse. Two officers have been dismissed, however nobody has been held accountable.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — The Assist Group for Repatriated and Refugees (GARR) is asking for a radical investigation and accountability after two Haitian women have been discovered useless at a migrant transit middle in Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico.
The our bodies of the ladies, ages 4 and 5, have been found on Feb. 24 in a septic tank at Casa Hogar Patos, a facility managed by Oaxaca’s Integral Household Growth company, often called DIF-Oaxaca. In keeping with GARR, the youngsters had been admitted to the middle with their mom, who believed it might present a protected surroundings whereas they awaited immigration processing.
“The middle was speculated to be a protected place to shelter the mom and her youngsters in quest of a greater life, a spot meant to guard their well-being,” GARR mentioned Feb. 27 in a statement. The group expressed condolences to the household and denounced what it described as severe failures in prevention and safety measures.
GARR mentioned the septic tank the place the ladies have been discovered lacked fundamental security protections and was not adequately secured or monitored by employees.
The Legal professional Common of Oaxaca confirmed that an investigation is underway. Two officers — the middle’s director and the final coordinator of state reception facilities below DIF — have been dismissed. Nonetheless, GARR famous that nobody has but been formally held accountable.
The Haitian migrant rights group additionally cited earlier studies of alleged abuse, meals rationing and irregularities in social help administration inside services overseen by DIF-Oaxaca.
“The middle was speculated to be a protected place to shelter the mom and her youngsters in quest of a greater life, a spot meant to guard their well-being.”
Assist Group for Repatriated and Refugees (GARR)
GARR urged Mexican authorities to conduct a clear and rigorous inquiry and known as on the Haitian authorities to offer authorized steerage and psychological assist to the grieving mom.
Broader dangers for Haitian migrant youngsters
The deaths have renewed issues in regards to the security of Haitian migrant youngsters in transit and host international locations. As insecurity and financial hardship proceed to push Haitians emigrate, households usually depend on shelters and reception facilities which will lack satisfactory oversight.
Latest incidents elsewhere within the area have additionally heightened alarm.
In November 2025, 11-year-old Haitian scholar Stéphora Anne-Mircie Joseph died throughout a college outing in Gurabo, Santiago, within the Dominican Republic. Dominican authorities required bond funds of about $8,000 for varsity officers detained in reference to alleged negligence. Nonetheless, no additional particulars have been launched in regards to the investigation.
Earlier this month, GARR additionally reported the invention of 4 Haitian ladies’s our bodies within the Dominican Republic. The group mentioned the ladies have been believed to be victims of trafficking networks that exploit migrants searching for to cross borders.
“These ladies are believed to be victims of trafficking networks that exploit their vulnerabilities, promising to assist them cross the border in trade for cash,” GARR mentioned in a Feb. 3 statement.
Advocates warn that Haitian migrant youngsters are notably weak to abuse, trafficking and neglect throughout migration journeys, particularly when touring via casual or overcrowded services.
For GARR, the deaths in Oaxaca spotlight the pressing want for stronger safeguards, clearer accountability and coordinated safety mechanisms for migrant households.
“Justice should be served,” the group mentioned, “in order that such tragedies don’t occur once more.”