Displacements from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – a region known as the Northern Triangle of Central America – have multiplied by almost 50 over the past 10 years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted in its latest report of Global Trends, published this Friday, on the occasion of Refugee Day that is celebrated on June 20.
According to the United Nations (UN) agency, the number of people from these Central American countries increased from 18,400 people at the end of 2011 to about 867,000 at the end of 2020.
UNHCR notes that 12% of all new asylum applications submitted in 2020 came from people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. More than three-quarters of the internationally displaced people from the Northern Triangle of Central America were in the United States. Others applied for asylum in Mexico, Canada, and Costa Rica. 5% (25,900 people) have moved outside of America, mainly to Spain and Italy.
In addition, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras welcomed 1,500 refugees or asylum seekers towards the end of 2020, an increase compared to the previous year. Three out of every five came from El Salvador or Honduras, while other countries of origin were Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba. However, the real figures may be much higher, due to the volatility of the situation in the region.
According to the report, which has figures through the end of 2020, the proportion of unaccompanied or separated children from their Salvadoran, Honduran and Guatemalan families who arrived at the United States border decreased slightly from 15% to 11%.
“In 2020, due to movement restrictions, there was a 75% decrease in arrivals in general, especially families, and almost three-quarters were registered as single adults,” the document said, citing figures from the US Customs and Border Protection.
The Mexican figures are similar. According to data from the National Migration Institute (INM), before 2018 almost half of the children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras were unaccompanied, compared to 32% in 2018 and 25% in 2019.
In 2020, the overall number of girls and boys from these three countries recorded in the INM data decreased by almost 80%, mainly due to movement restrictions applied to contain COVID-19, so the proportion of girls and unaccompanied children increased to 44%.
The global number of asylum applications in Mexico also increased from 3,400 in 2015 to 70,400 in 2019, before dropping 41%, that is, to 41,200 in 2020.
Some of the reasons that people from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala flee their countries are selective violence and the general lack of security in their communities. In a report published by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNHCR in 2020, almost one in five families interviewed identified violence as the main reason for their displacement.
Girls, boys and adolescents are especially vulnerable to gang violence and forced recruitment in these three countries and almost half of them do not go to school. Young people are threatened and forced to participate in criminal activities. Challenging gangs is extremely dangerous for young people, and retaliation can extend to their families and communities.
“This persecution significantly hampers the ability of family members to find or keep a job, and to access education, health and other social services,” says UNHCR.
The prevailing economic situation and the impact of climate change also exacerbate these vulnerabilities. In a public opinion poll conducted in 2019, two-thirds of the people surveyed in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras stated that they believe that it is highly likely that they or an immediate family member will be affected by a natural disaster in the next 25 years.
The consequences of hurricanes Eta and Iota, which hit Central America in November 2020, are proof of the vulnerability of these countries to the climate crisis.
The number of displaced and refugees in the world doubles in 10 years
The number of people forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution and human rights abuses doubled in the last decade, to reach 82.4 million at the end of last year, according to the report by UNHCR.
This figure represents a record for the number of refugees and internally displaced persons in the world. In addition, the amount of displacement continued to grow in 2020 despite the restrictions on mobility that were established to try to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the ninth consecutive year of increase.
“In the year of COVID, in a year in which movement was practically impossible for most of us … 3 million more people have been forcibly displaced,” the High Commissioner for United Nations for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
Among those forced to flee their country, Syrians remain the largest contingent, with some 6.8 million internationally displaced as a result of the war, followed by Palestinians, with some 5.7 million.
Venezuelans make up the third largest group, with some 4.9 million people, according to UNHCR figures, which also does not include those who are displaced outside the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Afghanistan (2.8 million internationally displaced) and South Sudan (2.2 million) are next on a list in which Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia or Sudan also appear at the top.
“Unfortunately, the trends have continued. If we were to work to update the numbers … during the first six months of 2021, we will probably see a further increase of those 82.4 million,” Grandi said. About 42% of the displaced were children.
“The tragedy of so many children born in exile should be reason enough to maximize efforts to prevent and end conflict and violence,” said Filippo Grandi.
In terms of host countries, Turkey remains number one, with almost 4 million refugees and asylum seekers, mostly from Syria.
Colombia, with 1.7 million Venezuelans in its territory, is the second state that welcomes the most displaced people, followed by Germany, Pakistan, Uganda, the United States, Peru, Sudan and Lebanon.
The rise in people uprooted from their homes, Grandi told Reuters, was partly due to new sources of conflict, such as northern Mozambique, the Sahel region in West Africa and Tigray in Ethiopia, along with outbreaks of conflict in long duration in Afghanistan and Somalia.
The UN is also preparing for a likely increase in the displacement of civilians in Afghanistan when US and international troops leave the country in September, Grandi had this week.
“Put an end to selfish policies”
The UNHCR report highlights that the vast majority of refugees, almost 9 out of 10, are hosted in countries neighboring conflict zones and that the majority are low- and middle-income nations.
In 2020, the number of asylum seekers, meanwhile, fell dramatically, with 1.3 million, one million less than the previous year, as a result of the travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
In 2020, about 3.2 million internally displaced persons and only 251,000 refugees were able to return to their homes, respectively 40% and 21% less than in 2019.
Refugee relocation also dropped dramatically. Only 34,400 refugees were reinstated last year, a 20-year low, due to the limited number of places and the pandemic, according to UNHCR.
“Solutions require world leaders and those with influence to put aside their differences, end selfish political approaches, and instead focus on preventing and resolving conflicts and ensuring respect for human rights.” Grandi declared.
Amid a rise in populism and nationalism in global politics, Grandi called on world leaders to “stop demonizing people” who are forced to displace.
“To say that the only way to address this population flow is by building walls or pushing people into the sea is morally despicable. They are human beings,” Grandi said. “Whatever the reason for the flight or the movement of human beings, they deserve full dignity like everyone else.”
With information from AFP and EFE
