Tabasco, November 22 (teleSUR-RHC)-- A caravan of mothers of disappeared Central Americans has begun its 10th annual Mexican tour this week in search of their missing loved ones.
The group entered Mexico at the El Ceibo crossing near Tenosique, Tabasco, led by migrant and human rights defender Father Tomas Gonzalez of the migrant shelter “La 72 Hogar Refugio para Personas Migrantes” (72 Home Refuge for Migrants). The Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, led by Marta Sanchez Soler, is also coordinating the group.
The caravan, dubbed the Bridge of Hope and made up of 43 mothers, will travel hundreds of kilometers by bus through 10 Mexican states in their search.
The group also demands that Mexican authorities do more to guarantee the safety and protection of the estimated 323,000 Central American migrants that cross into Mexico each year.
“Non-official data reveals that between 70,000 and 150,000 Central Americans have disappeared,” says the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement in a press release.
Due to increasing organized crime violence, poor economies and systemic corruption, thousands of Central American migrants travel northward each year, with many falling victim to violence, extortion, kidnapping, and even murder by organized crime groups or corrupt security forces in Mexico.
Over the past 10 years, the caravan has reunited 200 migrants with their families. The caravan this year is expected to finish its route on December 7th.
