Teachers at six schools in Juarez, in the northern state of Durango, were threatened by members of a drug cartel. In a series of written warnings posted on school walls from 12 November 2008, armed drug gangs threatened to kidnap students if the teachers failed to pay Christmas bonuses to the traffickers. Several of the schools evacuated all of their students and closed for three or more weeks.

On 17 March 2009, in Triqui Region, San Migel Copola, in the state of Guerrero, more than 20 high-calibre cartridges were found on the campus of Oaxaca's 83rd Baccalaureate Studies Institute following a raid by armed gangs on a community along its perimeter. Continuing armed attacks attributed to the Union of Social Welfare of the Triqui Region (UBISORT), a paramilitary group, forced primary and secondary high schools to suspend classes during April 2009.562

[Refworld note: The source report "Education under Attack 2010" was posted on the UNESCO website (www.unesco.org) in pdf format, with country chapters run together. Original footnote numbers have been retained here.]

562 Telesis News, "Niños Dejan La Escuela Por Amenaza De Secuestro En México," December 21, 2008; El Siglo De Torreón, "Evacúan Escuelas Por Amenaza De Extorsion," December 17, 2008; and Patricia Briseno, "Agresiones y Amenazas Cierran Escuelas Triquis," Excelsior, April 1, 2009.

Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.