Migration deal with US meets mixed reactions in Guatemala

US President Donald Trump watches as Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart (L) and acting US Secretary of Homeland Security Kevin McAleenan conclude an agreement on Jul 26, 2019 meant to slow the northward flow of migrants. (Photo: AFP/Brendan Smialowski)

US President Donald Trump, who has pushed hard to slow the flow of migrants, said Friday that the "safe third country asylum" agreement would require would-be asylum seekers travelling through Guatemala to seek refuge there, not in the United States. Anyone failing to do so would be sent back to Guatemala.

Most of those migrants would be coming from El Salvador or Honduras.

The pact was signed in Washington on Friday by Kevin McAleenan, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, and Guatemala's interior secretary, Enrique Degenhart.

Guatemala's human rights ombudsman Jordan Rodas has questioned its legality, saying his country's constitution does not authorise a minister to sign such an agreement. He urged the Congress to study it carefully.

Rights group Amnesty International called the agreement "outrageous," saying that "there is no doubt that Guatemala should not be considered a safe place of refuge."

A "safe third" agreement could only be legal if would-be asylum seekers were sent to a truly safe third country, rights groups said.

Guatemala has one of the world's highest murder rates.

"The Trump administration must abandon this cruel and illegal plan," Amnesty's director for the Americas, Charanya Krishnaswami, said in a statement.

Refugees International called the pact "very alarming."

BUSINESS BACKING

Business groups, however, applauded the deal for sparing Guatemalans potentially severe economic penalties threatened by Trump.

"The risks and consequences of not signing were very great," said Juan Carlos Tefel, president of the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Associations.

The Guatemalan-American Chamber of Commerce also registered its approval.

The deal was originally to have been signed Jul 15 by Trump and Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales, but when that country's Constitutional Court temporarily blocked the pact, the signing was delayed.

The deal was finalised after Trump threatened to impose tough economic measures on Guatemala, including steep tariffs on imports.

It faces an uncertain future. The two candidates vying to succeed the term-limited Morales in an Aug 11 election - Social Democrat Sandra Torres and right-wing candidate Alejandro Giammattei - have both rejected it.

The US is Guatemala's top trading partner. Remittances last year from Guatemalans in the US amounted to 12 per cent of the Central American country's GDP.