DECEMBER 19, 2018 / 7:57 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Honduran teens who joined migrant caravan killed in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities are investigating the deaths of two Honduran teenagers killed in the border city of Tijuana last weekend after joining a migrant caravan in October headed for the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said on Wednesday.

The two youths, believed to be about 16 or 17 years old, showed signs of having been stabbed and strangled.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Wednesday that his government will seek “fair treatment” for migrants, and he said his interior minister will flesh out later in the day how security at the border with the United States will be bolstered.

“We have to maintain an immigration policy rooted in the defense and protection of human rights,” Lopez Obrador said at his morning press conference, emphasizing the right to seek asylum.

The Honduran ambassador in Mexico, Alden Rivera, said earlier that the two dead migrants left the violent city of San Pedro Sula on Oct. 13.

It could not be determined immediately if the victims planned to apply for asylum.

More than 2,000 mainly Honduran immigrants who traveled with the caravan remain in a shelter in Tijuana, Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that they will not be allowed into the United States, but a few asylum seekers have already crossed the border.

The killings will likely fuel criticism of a policy proposal that Mexico and the United States discussed earlier this year to have Central American migrants wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed.

The proposal would likely face legal challenges in the United States. Mexican officials have not confirmed if the plan is currently under discussion.

 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN1OI1VW