The Sorrowful March

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Around 3,000 migrants are marching through southern Mexico this week as part of a mass protest to demand the closure of the country’s detention centers, the BBC reported.

The migrants began their walk Sunday from the city of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, and plan to reach the capital Mexico City in 10 days.

Protest organizers told the Associated Press that the migrants would flagellate themselves and block roads if the government did not agree to negotiations. Apart from the closures, they are also demanding better treatment, and exit visas or other documents that would allow them to make it to the United States border.

The migrants are mainly from Central America, Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Colombia.

The migrant caravan comes a month after a blaze at a detention center in Ciudad Juárez – near the US border – killed 40 people. The fire started after a migrant allegedly set fire to a foam mattress to protest a transfer.

Video footage showing uniformed officials leaving migrants behind in locked cells as the fire engulfed the facility sparked outrage in the country. Five people are facing homicide charges, including a Venezuelan man believed to have started the fire, three immigration agents and a private security guard.

Mexican prosecutors have also pressed charges against the head of Mexico’s migration agency, Francisco Garduño, over the incident.

It’s uncertain how many demonstrators will make it to the US border, as in the past authorities have frequently broken up large gatherings well before they reached Mexico City or the border.