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Destination USA: Migrants from Honduras along the road in the Guatemalan Camotan
Photo: JOHAN ORDONEZ / AFP
Several thousand migrants have made their way through Central America to the USA.
According to reports in local media, it is mainly Hondurans who fled the Central American country because of violence, poverty and the consequences of two devastating hurricanes in November and wanted to look for a better life in the USA.
According to the Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca, at least 9,000 Honduran migrants have already reached neighboring Guatemala.
On Saturday, television pictures showed migrants taking a bath in the river on the Guatemalan side.
Now the governments in Guatemala and Mexico have started to strengthen their borders in order to stop the so-called caravan on its way north.
The government of Guatemala has already called on the Honduran authorities to curb mass emigration.
In a message on social media on Saturday, President Alejandro Giammattei called on the neighboring country's authorities to "continuously" contribute to "guaranteeing national and regional security" through "preventive measures".
Giammattei called the border crossings a "violation" of the sovereignty of Guatemala.
Mexico also stepped up surveillance of the border.
The Mexican government sent 500 additional border guards to the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, which border Guatemala.
USA warns migrants
The US government had warned migrants from Guatemala in advance not to "waste their time and money."
The head of the US Customs and Border Protection, Mark Morgan, had stressed last week that the new administration of Democrat Joe Biden would not open its borders to migrants from Central America.
According to his own statements, the new US President Biden is striving for a "fair and humane immigration system".
At the same time, he announced that he would focus on the causes of flight in the Central American states.
In the past few years, thousands of people from Central American countries had walked in large groups to Mexico in order to get from there to the USA.
Parallel to the congressional elections in the summer of 2018, reports of a "caravan" had become a political issue, and US President Donald Trump had used the refugees to stir up fear.
Under pressure from the US, Mexico increased its military presence at its borders to prevent migrants from entering the United States illegally.
Clashes with security forces
The new so-called caravan had joined forces on Thursday evening in the city of San Pedro Sula in northwest Honduras.
A leading group of around 3,500 people clashed with security forces in the Guatemalan city of Vado Hondo on Saturday, local authorities reported.
After an argument with police officers and soldiers, several migrants managed to continue on their way, said the refugee authority.
The director general of the agency, Guillermo Díaz, urged people to return to their country.
His authority provided trucks and buses for this.
As the migrants moved north in small groups, members of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees helped some of them.
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mrc / dpa / AFP / AP
