The head of the Office of Foreign Relations, Daniel Millán, announced that men are the ones who have presented the most difficulties in leaving Ukraine when trying to be enlisted to fight in the conflict.
The head of the Foreign Relations Office, Daniel Millán, indicated that they are aware of 30 Mexicans who have left Ukraine either with consular help or with their own resources and that the men have faced difficulties because they wanted to enlist them to fight in the armed conflict against Russia.
“There were some difficulties, especially for the men, fortunately, they were able to cross. There is the case of a Mexican whose family is allowed to pass quickly, but for men of combat age it is more complicated to leave,” said Millán, during the first leg of the Armed Forces humanitarian operation that will repatriate the Mexicans who arrived in Romania.
He spoke about the case of a Ukrainian father who was not allowed to leave but his Mexican wife and children were. Among the Mexican families located there are two girls of both nationalities.
He explained that the approximate number of Mexicans in the conflict zone is between 80 and 90. Millán indicated that there is knowledge of the location of Mexicans in Kyiv and nearby cities, in addition to the Foreign Ministry being attentive if any diplomatic action had to be taken on the borders with Moldova and Hungary.
Given the state of siege in Kyiv, he pointed out that there are Mexicans sheltering in bunkers. The Mexican ambassador to Ukraine, Olga García Guillén, is accompanied by the consul in her residence and operating from those premises.
She stated that they will follow the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Marcelo Ebrard, to help the nationals in their transfers.
“What the president (Andrés Manuel López Obrador) and the foreign minister (Marcelo Ebrard) said is our commitment: we are going to repatriate all Mexicans, we are going to bring them back home, and if it is necessary to send a second plane, we are going to do,” he emphasized.
Separately, Colonel Iván Navarrete Torres, head of civil protection of the Ministry of National Defense (Sedena) recounted the story of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which has participated in the transfer of vaccines against covid-19 and helped repatriate Mexicans trapped in other countries at the start of the pandemic.
The colonel expressed the crew’s pride in being participants in the first rescue operation for Mexicans in the midst of an armed conflict. “For us, it represents a great opportunity in a war scenario.”
Millán also pointed out that, if there is space and if the diplomatic negotiations are completed, “Latin American brothers” will be supported so that they return on the Mexican Air Force plane.
TYT Newsroom