Pilgrims flock to church in Ecuador to ask ‘Christ of Migrants’ for protection of relatives in migration journeys to US

#Ecuador #Human rights

Every weekend, pilgrims from all over Ecuador come to the Sanctuary of Andacocha, located near Guachapala, to ask the blessing of the Lord of Andacocha, also known as Christ of the Migrants, to help them on their migratory path to the United States or in other cases, to ask for a blessing for their relatives who have migrated.Recently, the number of migrants fleeing Ecuador has increased dramatically. “From January 1 to August 28, 2023, 320,098 irregular migrants bound for the United States have passed through the Darién Gap. Of these, 190,889 are Venezuelans, 42,414 Ecuadorians and 35,495 Haitians,” the Ministry of Public Security of Panama reported in recent days. This is due to several reasons such as the security and political crisis that the country is experiencing, as well as the enormous destruction of jobs during the pandemic that have not been recovered yet.