Migrants in caravan turn back

THE migrant caravan of 1 136 people which departed from Honduras to make its way to the US border earlier in the week had turned back, the Permanent Contingency Commission of Honduras (Copeco) said yesterday.

On Monday night, a new caravan left the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras for the US border.

According to Copeco, efforts aimed at the “successful transportation from the border… to San Pedro Sula of 1 136 people” continued on Thursday. The commission said 369 people from the caravan had voluntarily decided to return home, while the rest could not cross the US border because they did not have the necessary documents.

Copeco notes that there are 649 minors, including 121 who are travelling on their own, among the returning group.

The first 7000-strong caravan set out from Honduras in the direction of Mexico and the US in October, with thousands of Central American asylum-seekers following suit later in the year. About 6 000 to 9 000 migrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador are reported to have concentrated on the US-Mexican border.

More than 5 200 US soldiers have been sent to the country’s southern border, as US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stressed that he had no intention of allowing undocumented migrants to enter the US and seek asylum. |