By Emily Green and Lizbeth Diaz
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexico's former immigration chief publicly apologized on Friday for a fire at a migrant detention center in the border city of Ciudad Juarez that killed
40 people and injured 27 others in 2023, part of a court order that allowed him to avoid prison time.
Speaking at the Museum of Mexico City in front of survivors of the fire and relatives of those who died, Francisco Garduno said he offered his "deepest apologies for the suffering and harm caused to you and your families, whose lives have changed forever."
The rare apology marks part of a contentious resolution to one of the worst migrant tragedies in Mexican history. The fire in March 2023 garnered international headlines and shone a spotlight on longstanding allegations of corruption and inhumane conditions in Mexico's migrant detention facilities.
The tragedy began after two migrants set a mattress alight to protest conditions at the detention center, Mexican authorities said. A video from a security camera inside the facility shows the guards walking away as smoke fills the center, but they made no effort to release the migrants.
The person with the key to the cell was absent, Mexico's former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said.
Prosecutors accused top immigration officials of failing to "watch over, protect and ensure the safety of the people and facilities in their charge." They said the case showed a "pattern of irresponsibility."
In January, a judge in Ciudad Juarez dismissed charges against Garduno - the highest-ranking official to be charged - in exchange for him complying with several conditions, including taking courses in human rights and issuing a public apology to survivors and relatives. Immigrant-rights groups that represented the victims opposed the judge's decision.
In a statement on Friday, four human rights groups said Garduno's apology was a "symbolic first step" in providing reparation to the victims and their families.
"The public apology should not be interpreted as an absolution of responsibility or an act of repentance," the groups said. "It does not resolve the demands for justice or guarantee that similar events will not be repeated."
The Mexican government has paid roughly 3.5 million pesos ($190,000) to family members of each of the 40 people who died in the fire as well as those who were injured.
Prosecutors are still pursuing charges against two Venezuelan migrants accused of starting the fire as well as 10 former migration officials and private security guards.
Estefan Aragon, a Venezuelan migrant who survived the fire, said to this day he suffers serious pulmonary and breathing problems. “A public apology won’t restore my health,” he said. “We need help.”
(Reporting by Emily Green and Lisbeth Diaz, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
