Colombia cancels flights returning migrants from US, cites mistreatment

FILE PHOTO: Migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. from Colombia walk by the border fence to turn themselves in to the U.S. border patrol after crossing the border from Mexico at Yuma, Arizona, U.S., February 17, 2022. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

Colombia's migration agency has temporarily suspended a program to return Colombian nationals found by immigration officers at the U.S. border with Mexico, it said on Thursday, citing cruel and degrading treatment and last-minute flight cancellations.

The number of Colombians trying to migrate north to the U.S. has soared in recent years, with more than 125,000 apprehended at the United States' southern border in 2022, according U.S Customs and Borders Protection (CBP), up from around 6,200 in 2021.