EXPLAINER: Who are the migrants and where are they headed?
The caravan of Central American migrants moving through Mexico towards US border has bloomed to more than 7,000 people. Here’s why the caravan is bigger than previous ones
WHAT IS THE CARAVAN?
The caravan is largely made up of young men and women with children fleeing Central America’s violence, poverty and corruption. Most are from Honduras, but hundreds have also joined from El Salvador and Guatemala. Over the years, Mexican advocacy groups organised such caravans to draw attention to the plight of asylum seekers, mostly from Central America.
But this year’s migrant caravan appears to be the biggest ever. Unlike past caravans that were organised mostly in Mexico, this one started spontaneously in Honduras with about 160 people leaving from the gang-plagued city of San Pedro Sula. The group grew to more than 1,600 by the time it reached the Guatemalan border.
HOW IS THIS ONE DIFFERENT?
For years an annual caravan was organised by advocacy groups in southern Mexico around Easter to draw attention to the plight of Central American migrants. But since Trump took office in 2017, the caravans have grabbed attention in the US and grown from only a few hundred to more than 1,000 people. Earlier this year, a smaller caravan made its way to Tijuana, where more than 200 people presented themselves at the border and applied for asylum in the US. The others returned home, tried to sneak into the United States or were deported by the US or Mexico.
WHO IS BEHIND THE CARAVAN?
It’s unclear exactly how the caravan started in Honduras, but it appears to have no formal leadership. “No one is capable of organising this many people. Nobody,” said Irineo Mujica of Pueblo Sin Fronteras (People Without Borders), which is providing support to the group. “It’s an exodus.” Many Mexicans have turned out to help the migrants, handing out food and sometimes clothes in each town where they stop.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The caravan is slowly advancing into Mexico. The length of the journey could more than double if the migrants go to Tijuana, San Diego, on the other side of the country. The caravan earlier this year shrank significantly as it moved through Mexico, and only a tiny fraction — about 200 of the 1,200 in the group — reached the California border. US law affords those fleeing violence the right to apply for asylum.