Migrant caravan: Mexico offers temporary work permits

Mexico has offered temporary work permits to migrants who register for asylum, as a big caravan of Central American migrants makes its way through the country toward the US.

The plan also envisages temporary ID cards, medical care and schooling.
But to qualify, migrants must remain in Mexico's southern Chiapas and Oaxaca states.
The US has warned that about 800 troops may be sent to the US-Mexico border to stop the migrant caravan.
"I am bringing out the military for this National Emergency," US President Donald Trump said earlier this week. "They [migrants] will be stopped!"
The president also threatened cutting aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
The caravan set off from Honduras several weeks ago.

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What about Mexico's plan?

The scheme, announced by President Peña Nieto, covers Central Americans who have officially asked for a refugee status in Mexico or are planning to do so in the nearest future.
It is called Estas en Tu Casa ("This is Your Home" in Spanish).

"Today, Mexico extends you its hand," President Nieto said.
But he added: "This plan is only for those who comply with Mexican laws, and it's a first step towards a permanent solution for those who are granted refugee status in Mexico."
The plan envisages:

• Temporary ID cards and work permits
• Medical care
• Schooling for migrants' children
• Housing in local hostels

But President Nieto failed to explain what would happen to the migrants if they chose to carry on regardless.
The Mexican authorities are coming under increasing pressure from the Trump Administration to find a solution to this caravan, the BBC's Central America correspondent Will Grant in the town of Arriaga, Chiapas, reports.
The authorities are trying to tread a balance between placating the US and giving a green light to travel to potential future caravans, our correspondent adds

Where is the caravan now?

The caravan is presently is in Arriaga.
Most migrants said they had no intention of changing their plans to head to the US.
"The majority plan to cross the border. And that's my intention, too," one man told the BBC.
"Because, yes, while life here is calmer than at home, it's still not like the US where it would get better. That's the goal: to have a better life."
Meanwhile, a woman told the BBC: "It's a kind offer - but it's not the plan that we have, to stay here halfway up."
A spokesman for the United Nations said more than 7,000 people had joined the migrant caravan as of 22 October, citing estimates from the International Organization for Migration.
But the group has split up, which makes it difficult to determine the exact number.
The migrants say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Can they migrate legally?

On Thursday, Mr Trump once again urged the migrants to stay away, tweeting: "To those in the Caravan, turn around, we are not letting people into the United States illegally."