"Spectacular" increase in the number of African migrants arriving at the US border

US border patrol boats in Texas have arrested hundreds of people from African countries over the past week.

The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) said the "skyrocketing" of migrants from African countries arriving in the region was a "humanitarian crisis".

Since May 30, more than 500 African migrants arrived in the border patrol area of ​​Del Rio last week.

Most of these people are from Angola, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, said CBP.

Last week, on May 30, a large group of 116 people who had all originally traveled to African countries arrived at the southern border.

In a statement, Del Rio's chief patrol officer, Ra L L Ortiz, said that language barriers and cultural differences also impose "additional burdens on the government". [border patrol] treatment stations ".

Many migrants also traveled to San Antonio, Texas, some 240 km (150 miles) from Del Rio.

A spokeswoman for the city government of San Antonio told BBC News that she "operated a resource center for travelers" and "was" associated with local charities "to provide people certain necessities such as food and lodging.

Local journalist Jaleesa Irizarry also tweeted that the city "desperately needs French-speaking volunteers" and that local centers are expecting more than 300 more migrants in the coming days.

How are they in the United States?

We do not know exactly which route they take.

However, in a recent interview with NPR, some African migrants described going from their home country to Brazil, before heading north through Colombia and Central America to the US border. -mexicaine. Such a trip usually takes several months.

The images released by CBP show migrants completing the final leg of their journey by crossing the Rio Grande River that separates Mexico from Texas.

According to CBP Acting Commissioner John Sanders, the agency currently holds nearly 19,000 people in total.

"When we have 4,000 people in detention, we consider that it is high," he said at a press conference. "There are 6,000 people in detention, we view this as a crisis.At present, we have nearly 19,000 people in detention, so it's just off the charts. . "

In May, a record number of 144,278 migrants arrived at the southern border, of which more than 100,000 were families and children.

Since last September, six children have died in custody in the United States after being arrested by border patrol agents.