Salesian Project Tijuana Consolidates Refugees' Network

Salesian Project Tijuana Consolidates Refugees' Network

(ANS – Tijuana, Mexico – Feb. 7, 2024) – On January 26, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Mexican Refugee Aid Commission (COMAR), and the Salesian Project Tijuana (PST) reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together on behalf of refugees and migrants in the city of Tijuana, on the border with the United States. Over the last 3 years, a center called the Multiservice Center has been created for refugees and migrants who continuously arrive in the city, and now it has been decided to expand its range of services.

The center is currently home to Mexican government offices processing visas for refugees in Mexico, a UNHCR counseling office, several civil associations offering legal advice, childcare, free medical consultations and, as of this year, also a National Employment System (SNE, in Spanish) desk where any migrant, refugee, or member of the community can apply for formal employment. In the near future, other integrated services will also be activated.

This joint work model was presented at the Global Refugee Forum, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in December 2023. The effort and relevance of this Tijuana Multiservice Center were internationally recognized, because they are unique of their kind, and were evaluated in a very positive way, with the support and appreciation of multiple actors.

“The sum of efforts in this community space is unprecedented in Mexico: the Center is a strong and decisive response of solidarity and support for all refugees, displaced persons, and those in need of protection,” testifies the director of the PST, Salesian Fr. Agustin Novoa Leyva.

This alliance began in 2021, through a close dialog between PST, UNHCR, and COMAR, with the aim of providing better care to those seeking refuge in Tijuana. What started with just 3 key agents has gradually gained endorsements from other government organizations, international agencies, and civil society organizations.

And as a result of this joint effort, from 2021 to the end of 2023, thanks to the collaboration of 15 different organizations, 22,614 people were helped and accompanied.

Tijuana, a border city and an obligatory stop for thousands of migrants from all over the American continents, has always been a pioneer in the treatment and development of empathy toward people on the move.

“For the Salesian Project Tijuana, for the Salesian community, it is part of our essence to be able to offer welcoming spaces to protect, promote, and integrate the migrant community that arrives in our works. In this way, we want to join the call of the Salesian Congregation to take care of vulnerable children and adolescents, working in networks and adapting our structures for this purpose,” Fr. Novoa said.

“Our Salesian DNA invites us to meet these people and provide them with safe spaces so that they can integrate into our society and progress. We defend and promote the rights of all people, especially the most vulnerable, such as those who are forced to leave their place of origin, fleeing in the knowledge that they will never be able to return because their lives are in danger,” the Salesian priest went on to say.

Fr. Novoa concluded: “Because we believe in a more just city and world, without violence and with opportunities for all, we are networked with all those who put human beings and their dignity at the center; and as sons of Don Bosco we believe that attentive gaze and a caring attitude are essential elements so that everyone feels calm and eager to start over in a different place. That is why we are very happy to be the pioneers in Tijuana with the Multiservice Center for asylum seekers.”