The National System for Integral Family Development, DIF, and the National Institute of Migration, INM, said in a joint statement Sunday, the rescued children were mostly from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

They said they have implemented common strategies to protect the rights of children and adolescents during their stay in the country after INM rescued them from irregular routes used by traffickers, where they were exposed to different kinds of abuse including forced labour, rape, physical and verbal assault.

Upon rescue, the children were immediately sent to state and municipal DIF systems for protection and specialized care.

Consular representatives are verifying their nationalities from their countries of origin, to reunite them with their families.

The state and municipal DIF systems have specialized staff including physicians, psychologists and social workers to attend to all children and adolescents in the shelters.

According to immigration authorities, a total of 11,893 children, 8,060 male and 3,833 female, from the above mentioned countries have been rescued so far this year.

Of the rescued, 4,029 were aged between 0 and 11 years of age and 7,864 were between 12 and 17 years.

The statement said from January to May 2013, INM rescued 3,496 foreign minors while in 2014 the corresponding figure was 8,003.