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. | A STRIP club in Britain has won a battle to remain open after local authorities were told many of the dancers who work there are feminists.

The Urban Tiger club in the western city of Bristol had faced calls for its licence to be removed, but argued that stripping was not inconsistent with women’s rights.

“It was the right decision,” Bristol-based burlesque dancer and stripper Tuesday Laveau said.

“Feminism is about women making their own choices and what I see in this criticism is a deep discomfort with women who are comfortable with their own sexuality.”

Sex work and stripping have long divided feminists, with critics arguing it encourages the objectification of women, while those in favour say women have the right to use their bodies as they wish.

Urban Tiger, which offers both full and partially nude dances, had faced strong opposition to its application for a licence renewal as a sexual entertainment venue from some women’s rights campaigners.

However, the lawyer representing the club told Bristol City Council’s licensing committee that dancers working there considered themselves feminists.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council confirmed that the club’s licence had been renewed. |