New migrant caravan sets off from Mexico

By Monday (November 29) morning, the caravan had advanced about 25 kilometres (15 miles) to reach the town of Huehuetan, according to a Reuters witness.

The majority of its members were families from Central America and the Caribbean fleeing violence, poverty and growing hunger crises in their home countries.

For months, migrants and human rights advocates have denounced the "prison-like" conditions in Tapachula. Under Mexican rules, migrants must wait to process their claims - often for months - before being able to relocate to other parts of the country without fear of

deportation.

Thousands of migrants waited on Monday in an hours-long line inside a stadium where immigration officials had set up a processing centre.

Last week, the Mexican government transported hundreds of migrants from Tapachula to other states in efforts to head off the formation of more caravans. But tens of thousands of migrants still remain in the city.