(Adnkronos) – After eight years of continuous health assistance to the migrant population in the state of Tamaulipas in Mexico, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is closing its activities in the cities of Reynosa and Matamoros due to a decrease in migratory flows. The organization announced this. The project, on Mexico’s northeastern border, was launched in 2017 in response to the strong need for medical care and psychological assistance for migrants stranded in the north of the country in search of a better life.
The new, restrictive and discriminatory migration policies of the United States and Mexico, widespread violence in the country, and the limited capacity of Mexican authorities to respond to massive influxes of people in cities like Reynosa and Matamoros, have led to the cessation of activities, MSF explained in a statement.
“In these years we have assisted thousands of people exposed to extreme risks such as kidnappings, torture, sexual violence, and expropriations. We have supported and accompanied their resilience in a deeply hostile environment – declares Cristina Romero, MSF medical activities coordinator in Reynosa – At the same time, we have strengthened the local response by working side-by-side with Mexican health institutions, shelters, and community organizations that have been fundamental in providing protection and assistance to this population.”
Throughout its duration, the Reynosa and Matamoros project followed a comprehensive assistance model that combined medical services, mental, sexual, and reproductive health assistance, social assistance, and intercultural mediation. This model allowed for a flexible response to the ever-changing needs of a context characterized by violence, overcrowding, and lack of protection.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, MSF’s activities changed, also adapting to the needs of the local population. General medicine clinics were set up, and support was provided in health centers in Reynosa and Matamoros, where both migrants and resident communities had access to medical consultations, psychosocial support, and preventive measures at a critical time for the healthcare system.
In eight years of project activity, MSF teams conducted 67,000 basic health consultations, 13,000 individual psychological support sessions, and 3,700 group sessions, assisted 394 survivors of sexual violence, performed 3,700 family planning consultations, 40,000 health promotion activities reaching 127,000 participants, and followed 474 people under the Mental Health Gap Action Programme (mhGap). MSF also highlights the opening of clinics and medical assistance during the Covid-19 emergency and 10 reports drafted on the humanitarian situation in the country with awareness campaigns. In addition to direct healthcare, MSF also carried out public and political advocacy work, documenting and denouncing conditions of violence, abuse, and neglect at the border, particularly the impact of measures such as “Remain in Mexico” (MPP), Title 42, the use and subsequent suspension of the CBP One application, which exposed thousands of people to greater risks.
Although the closure of activities in Reynosa and Matamoros marks the end of a cycle, MSF emphasizes that this closure does not represent the end of its work in Mexico. In fact, MSF teams will continue to respond to medical and humanitarian emergencies in other areas of the country based on knowledge and methodologies learned and developed at the border. Over the eight years of the project’s activity, training courses and roundtables were organized with institutions, authorities, and other organizations, which now make it possible to transfer the organization’s activities to other contexts where needs are greater.
“The project’s legacy lies not only in the thousands of people assisted but also in the collaboration with local partners and the strengthening of assistance models that can now be replicated in other contexts of mobility and violence,” declares Carolina López, MSF project coordinator in Reynosa and Matamoros.
MSF is deeply grateful to the patients, the communities of Reynosa and Matamoros, the local health authorities, the reception centers, the journalists, and the organizations with which it has collaborated to ensure that those assisted have access to health and the protection of their dignity, regardless of their origin, status, or life experience.
