The mayor of Tijuana, Karla Ruiz Macfarland, signed as a witness of honor a strategic collaboration agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the System for the Integral Development of the Family (SDIF), to achieve the First Shelter for Unaccompanied Children and Adolescents (NNA) in Context of Mobility in the border city.

Macfarland explained that having an alternative care option for the asylum-seeking community, especially in this border city, opens up the possibility of integrating them in any part of Mexican territory, a place of destination and transit for migrants.

According to figures from the Ministry of the Interior (Segob) in 2017, a total of 8 thousand 912 Mexican NNAs were deported from the United States. The figures increased with the emergence of the migrant caravans starting in October 2018, a year in which almost 11 thousand were deported and from January to May 2019, just over 5 thousand.

"For the feasibility of this project we will seek to involve various actors, both from civil society as well as educational and public institutions, where by working through an integral perspective we can enhance the capabilities of each participant," stressed the mayor.

Authorities added that in addition to this, the development of this project proposed to the municipality by Unicef directors will seek to involve the community, in order to achieve long-term sustainability of the place.

In addition to the mayor, Magdalena Bautista Ramirez, director of SDIF and Pressia Arifin-Cabo, deputy representative of Unicef, signed the agreement.

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