In 2016 alone, over 182,000 underage refugees from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala were registered on their way north. They are all looking for a place where they are protected from violence. Often they are exposed to similar dangers on the road as in their homeland. Their protection in the transit countries urgently needs to be improved.
Text: Lesli Gutiérrez Garduño
Last month (June 2017) the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees commented on the refugee situation in Central America. The desperate situation of people in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala who are forced to leave their homes is one of the greatest challenges in the region, according to the UN.
It estimates the number of refugees from these countries at 182,400 people in 2016 alone, including an alarming and increasing number of children. In Mexico, 16,000 unaccompanied minors were arrested last year, about half of whom had reached the border with the United States in search of international protection. As part of the international Destination Unknown campaign, terre des hommes Switzerland and terre des hommes Germany are working with local partners in Central America to support these refugee minors throughout the region.
In search of a safe place
The main reason for the flight is the increasing violence throughout the region. Children and young people are particularly at risk because the widespread violent gangs, the so-called maras, are forcibly recruiting young people under threats and blackmail. If they refuse to join the gangs, they and their families receive death threats and experience psychological or physical violence. The only way out is to flee. They often set off alone in search of a safe place.
Migrating children and young people without protection
Children and young people who seek protection and safety are exposed to great dangers on the dangerous migration routes. Surveys have shown that the dangers that these children accept when fleeing are just as great as the threat situation for which they originally fled.
The countries along these migration routes fail to protect the rights of migrant children. They have no access to health care, education and other public services - not to mention a lack of legal protection. They also face stigmatization and discrimination because transit countries do not recognize them as refugees.
Coordinated action needed
The Global Forum on Migration and Development and the Global Conference on Children on the Move, held in Berlin in June, called for increased global efforts to protect the rights of migrant children. These efforts must pay particular attention to migrant children in Central America. Coordinated trade is urgently needed here. This is the only way to ensure that vulnerable children travelling through Central America are protected from gangs and other risks and are given a chance of a safe and stable future.
