Many people would be hard-pressed to pinpoint the city of Tapachula in southern Mexico, or northern Angola’s Lucapa town on a blank map.

In recent weeks, thousands of migrants have either arrived in the former, or been expelled from the latter, yet again bringing to the fore the polarized nature of migration—an issue which has gained prominence in recent years by the cross-Mediterranean migration to Europe.

Lying south of Mexico, the three Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras have in recent years experienced a surge in the number of emigrants destined for Mexico with the hope of ending up in the United States.