Thousands stuck in Colombia's Caribbean amid migration surge

FILE PHOTO: Juan Francisco Espinosa, Colombia's Migration Director, speaks at a news conference in Bogota, Colombia, February 4, 2020. REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Some 9,000 migrants are stranded in a Caribbean municipality in Colombia amid a surge of people passing through on their way to north America following the re-opening of international borders post-lockdown, the Colombian migration agency said.

The irregular migrants - who are mostly Haitians but also include Venezuelans and Cubans, as well as a number from African countries - are stuck in Necocli, in Colombia's Antioquia province, migration agency director Juan Francisco Espinosa said in a virtual press conference.