More than 2,000 children journeying across Mexico towards the US as part of a “human caravan” need protection and access to essential services like healthcare and clean water, according to the UN children’s agency UNICEF.
The organisation estimates some 2,300 children are among the more than 7,000 people in the caravan who mostly come from the Central American nation of Honduras.
In a statement, UNICEF said that many of the children and families in the caravan are “fleeing gang and gender-based violence, extortion, poverty and limited access to quality education and social services in their home countries of northern Central America – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras”.
“Sadly, these conditions are part of daily life for millions of children in the region,” the statement issued on Friday said. “Each day, families facing these harsh conditions make the painful decision to leave their homes, communities and countries in search of safety and a more hopeful future.”
The organisation, which is already working with the Mexican Government to ensure uprooted children have the support they need and have their rights protected, said that children making the journey remain vulnerable to “exploitation, violence and abuse”.
In the statement, UNICEF also repeated a call for all governments to “prioritise the best interests of children in the application of immigration laws and procedures, to keep families together, and to find alternatives to immigration detention of children”.
Among those in the caravan is 16-year-old Eduardo who joined the caravan with his cousins in the hope of avoiding forced recruitment by gangs. He reportedly told UNHCR that he felt he had to leave after gang members in his hometown of Colon burnt down his home.
“When I saw our house burning, I knew out number had been called, our luck had run out, it was time to flee,” he was quoted as saying.
US President Donald Trump said last week he would begin cutting aid to the Central American nations where the would-be migrants come from because of their failure to prevent the caravan making its way towards the US.
