Mexican authorities have detained 94 illegal immigrants including 10 Nepali nationals packed into a truck bound for the US border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that it has no information regarding the detention of Nepalis who tried to sneak to the US. The Nepali Embassy in the United States looks after Mexico.

Reuters news agency reported on Wednesday that among the people found near the southern city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, capital of Chiapas state, were 10 Nepali citizens and nine Bangladeshis trying to reach the United States. US Department of Homeland Security authorities told Reuters that the migrants were traveling in inhumane conditions. 

The driver of the vehicle, who was from central Mexico, was arrested on human trafficking charges. Several of the migrants were treated for hand and leg injuries, and some struggled to breathe due to the “overcrowded conditions” on the truck, Mexico’s National Migration Institute said. 

“It’s a long journey and they intended to travel to the United States like that, literally hidden,” Reuters quoted Hector Flores, a spokesman for the Chiapas state prosecutor’s office, as saying. “Obviously, those are not optimal conditions for human beings.”

The entire group, which included seven minors, is likely to face deportation proceedings.

Published on: 25 July 2013 | The Kathmandu Post