Several thousand people joined a caravan in southern Mexico to march north towards the USA. Around 5,000 people left on Christmas Eve after a prayer service in the city of Tapachula in the state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, Mexican newspaper Milenio reported, citing local civil defense.
Most come from countries such as Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Haiti. At the head of the procession, a participant carried a white cross.
They accused the Mexican immigration agency INM of inaction in processing their applications in Tapachula. “We are telling the Mexican State that we have no other option but to walk until the INM issues immigration permits,” said activist Luis García Villagran, from the Center for Human Dignity, who coordinated the caravan. According to reports, the group's target is initially Mexico City and then the northern border.
Mexico is on the migration route of people trying to reach the United States. They are fleeing poverty, violence or political crises in their home countries. For several years now, migrants in the region have increasingly formed groups or caravans to protect themselves from violence and deportation, but these often split up again after some time.