MEXICO’S immigration agency said late Friday it found almost 500 migrants being held in a vacant lot.
All were believed to be en route to the United States.
Out of the 491 migrants to be exact, 277 were children and adolescents, and 52 of them were unaccompanied.
All but six were Guatemalans while the rest were Hondurans.
Upon discovery, the migrants were taken to offices of the Mexico’s National Institute of Migration where they were provided water, food, and medical attention.
Deadly Darien Gap: number of people crossing breaks new record
This comes as officials say the number of migrants and asylum seekers who have crossed the deadly Darien Gap of the Panama Jungle, has broken a new record.
Maria Isabel Saravia, Panama’s Deputy Director of Migration said that the number of people who have crossed the perilous land which connects South and Central America since January has surpassed the record total set in 2022.
According to the International Organization for Migration (I.O.M.), nearly 250,000 people crossed into Panama through the Darien Gap, nearly double the figures from 2021. This number was overtaken by this year’s statistics, Saravia from the Panama government said.
In the Darien Gap, those who brave the journey face steep and muddy mountains, rushing waters, and a tangled rainforest.
Migrants have also reported experiencing violence, extortion, and sexual assault from criminal groups. Many people die or disappear.
Here are the experiences of two migrants, one from Cameroon and one from Angola.
“We saw snakes, all types of animals in that jungle. It was a bad jungle. I don’t recommend anyone to pass through that jungle anymore. I spent five nights in that jungle with no food. I couldn’t find anybody to talk to, no water, nothing to eat for five days,” Aghem Didian, Cameroonian Migrant said.
“Five people died from our group during the journey. Five people. Three of them drowned in the water and the other two fell from a cliff. Five in total,” Ines Paulan, Angolan Migrant.
Reports say the jungle draws many more migrants than tourists and the growing number of trips through the Darien Gap, once believed to be so dangerous as to be uncrossable, has come to symbolize the risks migrants and asylum seekers are willing to take for a better life elsewhere.
