Dehydrated children in Mexico migrant caravan need urgent care, UNICEF says
The journey towards the US is leaving children "exposed to inclement weather" and "dangerously hot temperatures", UNICEF says.
Friday 26 October 2018 16:18, UK
Many of the children travelling with a migrant caravan through southern Mexico towards the US border are ill or dehydrated, according to UNICEF.
The youngsters should be given access to health care, clean water and other essentials, the charity added.
Most of those travelling are from Honduras, with others from Guatemala and El Salvador, fleeing poverty and violence in their own countries.
The long journey north has left children "exposed to inclement weather, including dangerously hot temperatures, with limited access to proper shelter", UNICEF said.
The charity is working with the Mexican authorities to provide drinking water and hygiene products.
It comes as US President Donald Trump reportedly considers closing the country's southern border completely - even to asylum seekers.
American media said Mr Trump was considering taking executive action to implement the plan.
If it goes ahead, it is likely to be seen as part of the president's efforts to appeal to his supporters as the Republican Party fights to keep control of Congress in the mid-term elections.
An estimated 4,000 people - including about 2,300 children - have joined the caravan, which is travelling slowly through Chiapas, Mexico's most southern state.
Volunteer nurses have been handing out donated medicine, taking temperatures and treating minor ailments.
Mr Trump has told the migrants to "turn around", tweeting: "To those in the caravan, turn around, we are not letting people into the United States illegally. Go back to your country and if you want, apply for citizenship like millions of others are doing!"
He says he is using the military to respond to what he calls a "national emergency".
The US is planning to send at least 800 troops to its southern border, to support about 2,000 National Guard troops already there.
Although active troops are sometimes called upon to help with floods or hurricanes, it is rare for them to be deployed to the southern border.