Mexican authorities on Thursday detained 1,266 migrants in the last 24 hours, Mexico's National Migration Institute (INM) said.

The migration agency said they were detained across operations carried out in 22 states of the country. 

Those intercepted arrived from "different continents that were transiting irregularly," the INM said, identifying migrants from at least 33 countries.

Of the 1,266, 741 were men, 322 were women, and 203 were minors. Around 10% of the people were traveling alone, according to the INM.

Migrants were mostly from Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Some others were from countries like Afghanistan, Armenia, Canada, China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Italy, Pakistan, Somalia, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey.

Surge in the number of detained migrants

The INM said last month that the number of migrants detained in Mexico had surged 78% in January from a year ago, though it was not clear whether the number of migrants was less last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Migrants detained were mainly from Central American countries, with many relying on immigrant smugglers to get them to their destination.

Washington has put pressure on Mexico to stop migrants trying to cross into the US, with some Latin American countries imposing visa requirements on travelers from other countries.

Migrants protest

The number of people fleeing violence and poverty has increased significantly over the years, with many having to wait nearly a year in southern Mexico for permission to cross Mexico and into the US without being detained.

About a dozen undocumented migrants on February 15, for example, sewed their mouths shut in protest of having to wait a long time at the border.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has urged authorities to offer various schemes, in addition to asylum, for the regularization of those arriving from other countries since it said nationalities of migrants crossing Mexico had increased in January.

rm/fb (Reuters, AFP)