WUNRN
Women's Refugee Commission - WRC
CENTRAL AMERICA
CHILDREN UNACCOMPANIED MIGRANTS TO THE UNITED STATES - RISKS &
DANGERS - POLICY GAPS
IN DETENTION & CARE IN THE US - SPECIAL VULNERABILITIES OF GIRLS
An
unprecedented number of children are fleeing violence in Central America and
seeking safety in the United States. Most are alone, making the treacherous
journey from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras with no parent or guardian.
Direct
Link to Full 52-Page Report: http://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/resources/migrant-rights-and-justice/844-forced-from-home-the-lost-boys-and-girls-of-central-america/file
Forced From
Home Report
The Women's Refugee
Commission findings indicate that the surge in unaccompanied Central
American children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is not a short-term anomaly
that will be resolved with short-term solutions. The majority of the children
interviewed stated that their flight northward had been necessitated by the
increasingly desperate conditions of extreme violence and poverty in their home
countries. Over 77 percent of the 151 participants the WRC interviewed stated
violence was the main reason more children were fleeing their countries.
The conditions in Central
America have deteriorated to such a point that, when the WRC asked the children
if they would risk the dangerous journey north through Mexico all over again
now that they had direct knowledge of its risks, most replied that they would.
They said that staying in their country would guarantee death, and that making
the dangerous journey would at least give them a chance to survive. Many of
them expressed a longing for their homelands, stating that they would not have
left but for fear for their lives.
