Haiti on Friday opened a consulate in the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula in a bid to help manage migration, Mexico’s government said, amid a steep increase in Haitians attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico frontier this year.

The opening of the consulate near the Guatemalan border is part of efforts between the governments of Mexico and Haiti to look after migrants from the Caribbean nation inside Mexican territory, the Mexican government said in a statement.

The rise in the number of Haitians making their way through Mexico has been spurred by economic malaise, a devastating earthquake and political turmoil following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise in July.

On Thursday, a caravan of around 3,000 migrants featuring many Haitians set off from Tapachula toward the U.S.-Mexico border, where mass arrivals of Haitian nationals sparked a crisis for the Biden administration in September.

Reuters