Hundreds of migrants abandoned by traffickers in southern Mexico

Tapachula, Mexico, Nov 18 (EFE).- At least 368 migrants from six different countries were taken under official care after traffickers abandoned them in southern Mexico, authorities said Friday.

Agents of the National Migration Institute (INM) were accompanied to a site near the Grijalva River in Chiapas state by elements of the army and National Guard after area residents reported that the migrants had been abandoned.

Health checks were carried out at the scene before the migrants were loaded onto buses for the ride to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital, where the INM will review their individual cases.

Those who are not granted asylum or transit permits will be repatriated to their respective homelands.

The group included 30 families comprising 54 people, as well as single adults of both sexes and 30 unaccompanied minors.

Six of the women were pregnant.

By origin, the 217 Guatemalans constituted the largest contingent, followed by Nicaraguans (85), Ecuadorians (45), Hondurans (11), Salvadorans (7) and Cubans (3), the INM said.

The region is experiencing a record flow of migrants trying to make their way to the United States, whose Customs and Border Protection agency intercepted more than 2.76 million undocumented migrants in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2022.

And the Mexican government received a record 58,000 asylum applications in the first half of this year. EFE Jmb/dr