Unicef details thousands of unaccompanied minors migrating to US

(Vatican Radio)  A report by Unicef says thousands of children from Central America are trying to reach the United States, with Mexico being used as their final transit zone. 

Listen to James Blears' report:

The Unicef report says that in the first six months of this year almost 26,000 unaccompanied children were detained at or around the US Border. 

Mexican authorities confirm they apprehended more than 16,000 of these migrant children and youngsters. Thirty thousand families of undocumented migrants were also discovered in this region.

Most come from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, which are ravaged by extreme poverty and criminal gangs which recruit by force, and indoctrinate children as young as eight.

Those children who refuse to obey are often murdered. These three countries have some of the worst homicide rates in the world.

Non-governmental organizations estimate that as many as 20,000 Central American would be migrants annually vanish in Mexico on their way to their so called 'El Dorado'.

They're often abducted by drug cartels and criminal gangs. And then there's the option of their families paying a ransom, them joining the cartel, or death.