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More than 500 Mexicans fled To Guatemalaamid intense clashes between drug cartels vying for territory, the Guatemalan Institute of Migration (IGM) said.

The movements began this week, IGM said, adding that minors, women, men and the elderly stay refugees in the city Quilcobordering Chiapas.

“These are families who were forcibly displaced to Guatemala due to the violence that has engulfed the south of the neighboring country,” the IGM statement said.

Criminal gangs, he added, are responsible for at least 19 violent deaths recorded in the last days.

The Guatemalan agency indicated that it had prepared a commission on humanitarian assistance from the Sub-Directorate for the Attention and Protection of the Fundamental Rights of Migrants to identify the needs of its compatriots.

Videos and images that began circulating on social media over the weekend show residents in areas such as Chicomuselo in Chiapas running to avoid bullets.

A source familiar with the matter, who declined to be named for security reasons, said criminal groups in Mexico linked to criminal organizations in Guatemala forced recruitment of young people from the age of 15, those who seek to integrate into their ranks.

“Many fled to Guatemala because it is closer, but hundreds more sought refuge in other communities in Chiapas,” he added.

This Wednesday, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said they were coordinating efforts to support affected Mexican families.

This was reported by another source in the Chiapas State Security Secretariat. Reuters What militaryThey mainly support operations stabilize the territoryThe National Defence Secretariat (Sedena) did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for information on the matter.

The Chiapas state government said later on Thursday that others 107 people in a vulnerable community situation Tsanembolomthey were under protection of the statewithout going into details.

Pedro Faro, coordinator of the human rights department of the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Human Rights Center in Chiapas, noted that from 2023 to June last year, the state had registered some 15,780 people who had been forcibly displaced, mostly by armed violence. (according to Reuters)

Photo: EFE