UN: Migrant Caravan Children Suffering Extreme Hardships
A doll of Central American migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., is pictured along the highway to Arriaga from Pijijiapan, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2018.
GENEVA —
The United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) reports an estimated 2,300 children in Mexico traveling toward the United States are suffering extreme hardships because of the heat, lack of basic services and multiple dangers on the way.
The children are part of a caravan carrying some 9,300 refugees and migrants toward the U.S. border.
The voyage is long, extremely hot and dangerous. UNICEF said the journey is particularly tough on the children.
A young migrant, traveling with a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, sleeps atop baggage resting on a stroller while looking to go to Arriaga from Pijijiapan, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2018.
The U.N. agency said the temperature in southern Mexico is dangerously hot. Many children are ill, others are suffering from dehydration and trauma. All lack access to essential services including health care, clean water and sanitation and shelter.
In addition, UNICEF spokeswoman, Marixie Mercado, said the need for protection is great. She noted that many of the children and their families in the caravan are fleeing gang and gender-based violence, extortion, and poverty in their home countries.
Children travel on a cattle truck, as a thousands-strong caravan of Central American migrants slowly makes its way toward the U.S. border, between Pijijiapan and Arriaga, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2018.
She said they have embarked on this dangerous journey from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador in search of asylum and in hopes of improving their lives.
"While those traveling with the caravan hope for safety in numbers, the perils of using irregular migration routes remain significant, especially for children," she said. "The journey is long, uncertain and full of danger, including the risk of exploitation, violence and abuse."
Mercado told VOA the children, regardless of their migration status, are guaranteed certain protection rights under international law. She said governments are obliged to abide by them.
Norlan, 18, a migrant from Honduras en route to the United States, rests in a public square as he waits to regroup with more migrants, in Tecun Uman, Mexico, Oct. 26, 2018.
"That means that it is essential that all children and families are able to apply for asylum and that they are able to have their international protection rights addressed before any decision on returns or deportations are made," she added.
Meanwhile, Mercado said UNICEF is working with the Mexican government and other partners to make sure uprooted children receive the support and services they need. This, she said, includes providing children with nutrition, protection, and psychosocial support to help them deal with abuse they may have encountered along the migratory route.
Faces in the Crowd: The Honduran Caravan
1/12A migrant girl, part of a caravan of thousands from Central America en route to the United States, waits to receive food being donated in Huixtla, Mexico, Oct. 23, 2018.
2/12A Central American migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., waits on the bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala to cross into Mexico to continue his trip, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Oct. 22, 2018.
3/12Genesis, 2, a Honduran migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., looks on as she waits for the gate on the bridge that connects Mexico and Guatemala to open in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Oct. 21, 2018.
4/12A Honduran migrant boy carries a bag as he takes part in a caravan heading to the US on the road linking Ciudad Hidalgo and Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, Oct. 21, 2018.
5/12A Honduran migrant boy taking part in a caravan heading to the US, cries as he waits on the Guatemala-Mexico border bridge, in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on Oct. 20, 2018.
6/12A Honduran migrant child held by a Mexican immigration worker, cries after crossing the border between Guatemala and Honduras with his family, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Oct. 20, 2018.
7/12A Honduran migrant, part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S., bleeds after he storms a border checkpoint in Guatemala, in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, Oct. 19, 2018.
8/12Honduran migrants taking part in a caravan heading to the US, arrive at the border crossing point with Mexico, in Ciudad Tecun Uman, Guatemala, on Oct. 19, 2018.
9/12A Honduran migrant gets some food as a group of migrants traveling to the United States hitch a free ride in the back of a trailer truck flatbed to Teculutan, Guatemala, Oct. 17, 2018.
10/12Honduran migrants pray at an improvised shelter in Chiquimula, Guatemala, Oct. 16, 2018.
11/12An elderly Honduran migrant woman talks with Guatemalan police who temporarily block the road to keep her and her caravan from advancing, in Esquipulas, Guatemala, Oct. 15, 2018.
12/12Hondurans march in a caravan of migrants moving toward the country's border with Guatemala in a desperate attempt to flee poverty and seek new lives in the United States, in Ocotepeque, Honduras, Oct. 15, 2018.
