Refugee odyssey – photographing Mexico's Viacrucis Migrante
|
Version 0 of 1. The travelling caravan is an annual event that has been held around Easter since 2010. It aims to highlight the dangers migrants face, rather than to necessarily cross the border into the US, although many were expected to apply for asylum at the border. The final group of about 200 people were stopped in Tijuana with border authorities stating they could not accommodate them. The Reuters photographer Edgard Garrido joined the caravan route and filed an impressive body of work from the journey. The stops made along the way are shown in the map above; Matías Romero, Puebla, Mexico City, Tultitlán, Celaya, Irapuato, Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara, Mazatlán, Hermosillo, San Luis Río Colorado, Mexicali and, finally Tijuana. People sleep aboard a bus bound for Puebla in Matías Romero, 5 April. Many left homes in Honduras and El Salvador months before and joined the caravan for safety and solidarity. The number of people in the caravan had swollen to more than 1,000 when conservative US media outlets reported the “invasion”, prompting a furious response from the US president, Donald Trump. He called the migrants “dangerous”, ordered national guard troops to the border and demanded funding for a wall. José, 7, travels on an open wagon of a freight train, 14 April; right, waking up near the San Ysidro checkpoint, two weeks later, 30 April. Edgard spoke about people he met along the route: “I greeted a particular family from El Salvador every day, Mrs Lucia, her seven-year old son José and her sister Carla. José was a cheerful kid, he laughed all day, asked to use my camera and played with everything: paper, a wooden stick or a stone. His father was killed by the gangs and an older sister was forced to be the jaina (girlfriend) of a gang member. He became a symbol to me for what the caravan meant, in his innocent way he was exuberant and oblivious to the hardship of the trip. As were so many other members of the caravan.” A demonstration at Angel de la Independencia monument in Mexico City, 12 April. Hope in Tlaquepaque. A taxi ride before embarking on a new leg of the journey. “Generally, people would approach me and just talk, I believe they could sense a commitment from my side and they seemed to value it. The days were long, there was enough time to chat and photograph. Everything was flowing naturally.” Waiting next to the railway to try to board a freight train in Irapuato, 16 April. The Guardian asks Garrido to pick his favourite image from the assignment: “This is a difficult one, but this image is my favourite. When you are standing in front of a situation that makes a good photograph, your heart and your head tell you. This is what I felt instantly in this moment. Favourite shot: A woman holds a bag as she and fellow migrants cross a railway line to board a freight train in Irapuato, Guanajuato state, 17 April. “The atmosphere created by the light, the dirt, the train and that suitcase turned the image to be simply cinematographic, a movie right in front of my nose. It was the train of the exodus, a natural image in black and white, a part of human history, repeating itself over and over again. Migration, the flow of people around the world.” Members of the caravan wait to enter the US border and customs facility in Tijuana, 29 April. How do you feel the caravan story is different this year to previous years? Is it the presence of Trump in the White House and his emphasis on the Mexican border, or do you think there are wider issues? “For me this caravan represented the constant exodus of people coming from Central America, Haiti, Cuba or even Africa travelling through Mexico to reach the US. Especially Central Americans, who in an endless stream cross Mexico on foot, by bus or train all year long, pushed by common denominators, the uncontrollable violence by organised crime and the lack of any norms that could allow a decent life in their countries.” This happens pretty much all year long, non-stop and nobody seems to pay a lot of attention any more ... until Trump started tweeting about this particular group of people, and the caravan immediately became news A bus rides past the border fence between Mexico and the US in Tijuana, 29 April; right, a child with a message for Trump near the San Ysidro checkpoint, 30 April. Garrido speaks about the relationships he formed with the people he met along the route: I met a lot of people, there were all special in their own way “The family I mentioned earlier and another family from Bajo Aguán in Honduras, an area riddled with violence and which I know very well; it surprised me they came from so far. The violence people are exposed to in Bajo Aguán is extremely brutal. Leaving that place takes a lot of courage and it’s not easy to get out of there. They looked always very decent, very preoccupied with their personal hygiene. “Nefi, a pleasant young man and his beautiful family, was educated, respectful and a doting husband and father to his wife and daughter. People were mocking him because he was always well dressed. He made me feel that my work was important. He would share his food with me, he was decent and a good guy.” Cristopher, 11, from El Salvador, travelling with a caravan through Mexico, draws at an improvised shelter in Irapuato, Guanajuato state, 16 April. “There was Cristopher, a photography aficionado who followed me all the time, and his lovely grandmother, who took care of me, maybe because Cristopher and I connected so well through something we loved and shared. “Angel, a single father, travelling with his six-year old son, Jefrey, reminded me so much of Chen Kaige’s movie Together.” A father and son on a freight train in Hidalgo state, 14 April. “And David, an extrovert young man from El Salvador, who I called with fondness ‘the producer’ because he organised everything, where and how people had to line up for food, lists with names, the departure of the caravan – he was always there. Tireless and joking.” A protest on the border fence between Mexico and the US in Tijuana, 29 April. Were there any particular moments you want to talk about? “There are many moments and I probably might have forgotten already a lot of things but I do remember the day we boarded the train for the first time in Tultitlán. “People were afraid, there was a lot of talk of accidents and massacres and the young men armed themselves with stones to repel any assaults along the route. “When they saw something strange they alerted everyone with banging the stones against the wagons. It was a deafening and frightening sound, very scary.” An open wagon of a freight train in Michoacán state, 17 April. “Another moment I remember vividly was when one night the train was pulled by three engines. It was very cold and the train reached an incredible speed. People were huddling under blankets and it was a strange sight in the night, headless human bundles sitting next to each other trying to stay warm. A man gave me a blanket, I pulled it over my head, plugged in my headphones and started to sing.” Moving moment: Garrido is left holding a baby. “One day a woman handed me her baby and said: ‘Hold the baby for a moment’, and she just left! I wanted to take pictures but obviously I couldn’t; I was holding somebody else’s baby in my arms. She came back after 20 minutes and she just picked it up from my arms. It was funny and people mocked me a lot.” A safe place to sleep: behind an altar inside a Catholic church which also serves as a temporary shelter in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco state, 18 April. Garrido on the challenges of shooting the story: “Accidents, organised crime, lack of sleep, hunger, the excessive sun during the day, the cold during the night. It becomes trickier when riding on a freight train. On a freight train in Hidalgo state, 14 April. “When following a group of migrants who don’t stop much, logistics become more complicated. To secure a real place to sleep and rest and clean up once in a while, to get a decent meal, to regain strength and to continue with my work becomes much more complex.” A temporary shelter in Hermosillo, Sonora state, 23 April. Amid the struggle to stay safe and well fed with shelter at night, there were some lighter moments in the journey for Garrido. One day in Sinaloa state, about halfway along the pilgrimage, he shot some people taking a break in the ocean at Mazatlán. A beach day in Mazatlan, in Sinaloa state, 20 April. A moment of prayer near the San Ysidro checkpoint. Did Garrido find people willing to be photographed or did they prefer to remain anonymous for fear of prejudicing their asylum applications? “When they see you day and night for almost a month you just start to live together, you don’t analyse the situation, you coexist. And they didn’t care that I was photographing them. And when I wanted to do a portrait or shoot video of someone, I always asked them first and nobody said no. A child holds a ball at a camp near the San Ysidro checkpoint; right, Channel checks the name of her sponsor in the US before entering the US border and customs facility. Border fence demonstrators in Tijuana, 29 April. The banner reads ‘diversity without borders’. “They only fear being deported or sent back, as they are aware of the risks they face by returning to their neighbourhoods. Gangs know exactly who has left the neighbourhood and retaliatory action is part of a routine in this structure.” A man and his daughter run between pigeons at the end of their journey, prior to preparations for an asylum request in the US, in Tijuana, Baja California, 28 April. Garrido on his overall experience and that of his colleagues on the journey: “It has been a rewarding experience, full of emotions, good moments, just impossible to ignore as a photojournalist. You are there and you are part [of the caravan]; otherwise images will be superficial and without a real message. Throughout this voyage I worked with my colleague Encarni Pindado, a photographer who has specialised in everything related to migration. She was solid and great company, I can only thank her. I would also like to thank my colleagues at Reuters. Things were taken care of so I could work in peace. It was great teamwork and support in every sense.” |