 |
| More than half of all migrants detained are children and adolescents . (Source: DLA) |
The majority of the victims were Guatemalans (485), including 277 children and adolescents, most of whom were traveling with family members. However, there were also 52 unaccompanied minors. The remaining six victims were Hondurans.
Migrants are detained at a fenced-off site near the city of Puebla. Smugglers often hide migrants at such sites before loading them onto buses or trucks bound for the US border.
The group of migrants has now been transferred to a nearby Mexican Immigration Institute (INM) facility, where they are provided with food, water and medical care.
In late June, authorities also discovered 129 Guatemalan migrants crammed into a truck in the eastern state of Veracruz. A month earlier, 175 illegal migrants were found in Chiapas state, most of them from Central America.
According to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of migrants currently staying at the border area between the two countries decreased by more than 50% in the period of May-June, after Article 42 of the immigration policy applied by the US during the Covid-19 pandemic expired.
Regarding the issue of migrants, in another development on the same day, Director of the National Migration Agency of Panama Samira Gozaine criticized Colombia for lacking cooperation in controlling the flow of illegal migrants crossing the Darien jungle on the border between the two countries.
Ms. Gozaine said Panama had not reached any agreement with Colombia on the issue, nor had it shared information or provided assistance in dealing with the significant increase in illegal migration in recent days.
Panama has recorded a record number of illegal migrants crossing the Darien jungle so far this year, reaching 260,000 people, exceeding the number recorded in all of 2022.
Panama has deported several Colombian citizens, most of whom have criminal records.
Source
Comment (0)