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Activists believe 70,000 migrants have disappeared in Mexico over the last decade

Loved ones of missing migrants set up a memorial at the Migrant Cross, which sits on the Rio Grande river bank just beside the Hidalgo International Bridge.

Photo: Julio Manuel L. Guzmán / EL UNIVERSAL
25/11/2016 |19:37
Redacción El Universal
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Over 70,000 migrants from Central America have disappeared in Mexico while attempting to make it to the U.S.. and only 265 people have been found, 20 of which were found dead, according to the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement.

Rubén Figueroa, a representative for the Migrant Movement, revealed that these shocking figures cover a 10 year period and most of the people are from Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

He says that the Migrant Movement have made it to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, to continue searching for loved ones, and they filed an official complaint with the state's Attorney General so a proper investigation can be launched.

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Family members of missing migrants set up a flower memorial at the Migrant Cross, which was installed on the Rio Grande river bank just beside the U.S.-Mexico international border crossing bridge.

“We don't have official information on how many people have disappeared, but we estimate 70,000 people have gone missing. But this is a very generalized number since migrants enter the country illegally and don't leave a trace,” said Rubén Figueroa.

The activists will also travel to Tlaxcala, Puebla, Oaxaca and Chiapas on December 23.

The Mesoamerican Migrant Movement's representative says that the activists have already located two migrants.

He claimed that the migrants are mistreated by the government and fall victims to all sorts of crimes during their journeys through Mexico, and he warned that the mass deportations that are expected to occur starting next year will increase the missing by up to 150 percent.