Politics
12:06, 23-May-2018
UN sees 58% annual rise in people fleeing Central America violence
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The UN's refugee agency has reported a huge spike in people fleeing from violence and persecution in the north of Central America.
The UNHCR called for action from the international community after the number of asylum seekers and refugees from countries including El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras in 2017 increased by 58 percent from the previous year, and 16 times from 2011.
The more than 294,000 asylum seekers and refugees from the region registered globally in 2017 sought protection in Belize, Mexico or the United States to the north or Costa Rica and Panama to the south, according to the refugee agency.
Central American asylum seekers wait for buses to take them to Tijuana on the US-Mexico border, April 24, 2018, from Hermosillo, Mexico. /VCG Photo
Central American asylum seekers wait for buses to take them to Tijuana on the US-Mexico border, April 24, 2018, from Hermosillo, Mexico. /VCG Photo
UNHCR spokesperson Aikaterini Kitidi said that many of those seeking protection are fleeing forced recruitment into armed criminal gangs and death threats.
"As people journey across borders and onwards they face numerous dangers, including violence at the hands of criminal groups, often leaving women in particular vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation," Kitidi added.
"Yet, faced in their home countries with high levels of homicide, particularly affecting women, as well as violence against women and LGBTI communities, people are taking these journeys out of desperation."
The rise in those fleeing violence comes as undocumented immigrants from the region are increasingly targeted for deportation from the United States.
A central tenet of the Trump administration's hardline immigration policy is preventing the flow of immigrants from Central America and deporting those who are in the country illegally, but those appealing for asylum must, under the US and international laws, be given an opportunity to prove they have a justified fear of returning home.
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A caravan of migrants traveling from Central America seeking asylum in the US made headlines in early May when Trump repeatedly tweeted for it to be stopped.
"I am fleeing because they were going to kill one of my sons," Ana Suazo, a 38-year-old Honduran who was traveling with three children, told AFP at the time.
The majority of asylum claims by Central Americans to the US are ultimately unsuccessful, resulting in detention and deportation, Reuters reported.
Kitidi said that the needs in Central America remain overwhelming. The UNHCR is seeking 36.2 million US dollars to provide protection and assistance to people in the region in 2018, but only 12 percent of the funding has so far been received.