The ever-present risk of displacement in countries of origin

There are multiple root causes of displacement in northern Central America that are all too often linked together with violence. By the end of 2019, nearly 800,000 people from El Salvador Guatemala and Honduras had sought protection either within their countries or had crossed international borders to escape escalating levels of gang violence and persecution, among other push factors. In this context, children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable. While some young women and girls are victims of sexual violence perpetuated by gang members, young men are exploited for criminal ends, including drug-running, or are fully recruited into criminal groups. Defying the gangs is extremely dangerous, particularly as retaliation not only affects the youth who refuse to join them, but also their family members who become targets of attacks. This persecution significantly hampers families’ ability to find or keep employment, and to access education, health and other social services.

This targeted violence and a lack of overall safety within their communities and countries has driven many families to leave their homes. Nineteen percent of interviewees traveling in families expressly identified violence as the main reason of their displacement. Particularly families from Honduras and El Salvador spoke of death threats, extortions and recruitment by gangs as their principal motivations for the family’s decision to flee their country of origin together. Similarly, 16.5 percent mentioned that violence and threats targeted at them in their country of origin affected their entire family.

Observing the complexity of the stories gathered during direct conversations with families, the percentage of families being displaced due to the underlying context of violence could be significantly higher. From 2013 through 2018, many parents sent their children and adolescents to other countries to protect them from risks associated with recruitment. As violence in communities has shifted to target entire families, however, hopes for a future in their home countries diminished, and more families began fleeing together.

A high percentage of interviewed families expressed difficulties in securing employment in their places of origin (68 percent), as well as a high percent of children who were not attending school. Only 54 percent of children surveyed were in school, and 4 percent contributed economically to the household. These data highlight the multi-causal and interlinked causes of flight.

The study results underline that adults have few labor opportunities in countries of origin as well as following internal displacement, when they are forced to leave their jobs. At the same time, due to internal displacement children cannot attend school, and families experience reduced access to essential services, increasing their vulnerability and harming their chances of ever rebuilding their lives. When internal movement is no longer a viable option, many people have no other choice but to flee their country.

Of the 636 interviews conducted in the countries of origin (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) with families at risk of displacement. Forty-four percent of these families reported not feeling safe in their places of residence and living under threats of violence during the six months prior to the study, a reality aggravated for them at night in their communities. Fifteen percent of the families interviewed in this study mentioned facing high levels of insecurity during daytime and this figure doubled when they returned home at the end of the day. A full 43 percent of the families modified the frequency and dynamics of their activities to avoid insecurity.

During the same period, nearly 11 percent of the families had been extorted, and a similar figure had been victims of violence or threats by gangs, while twenty-six percent of families mentioned that their communities are frequently targets of extortion, and 23 percent indicated they had suffered violence and intimidation by gangs.

In the event that families leave the country, 22 percent stressed they would flee with the entire family because threats and insecurity put whole families at risk. This information explains the trends seen since 2019 for increasing numbers of family units to flee together rather than as individuals, trends which are in turn a reflection of continued insecurity in northern Central America.

Despite the many risks along the routes, families flee urgently and out of desperation, and often undertake journeys without much preparation. Thirty two percent of the interviewees said they would hire a guide (‘coyote’) and 13 percent would join a large group. There seems to be, however, a lack accessible information on asylum procedures or migratory regulations. Over half of the families (55 percent) were unfamiliar with the requirements to move to another country. Only 28 percent mentioned they would need a passport and 18 percent mentioned identity documents. Whilts 67 percent knew about refugee status, and 63 percent would like to seek asylum, a large number are unfamiliar with the process to do so (71 percent).

On the other hand, having family members in the countries of destination can be an added pull factor for those living in a context of violence; as they often consider family reunification as a way to reach safety. Fifty eight percent of interviewed families in the countries of origin have close relatives abroad. More than a third of these families (39 percent) has considered attempting to reunite with them abroad.

Those that had to flee

Forty-one percent of families interviewed outside of their countries of origin were from Honduras, 32 percent from Guatemala and 28 percent from El Salvador. Of these, 66 percent of surveyed persons were mothers or fathers, among whom mothers predominated (63 percent) and averaged 30 years of age.

Most people fled with their immediate nuclear family. Of the persons interviewed transiting through or requesting international protection in Mexico, 31 percent fled with their mother or father. Twenty-six  percent fled with their children and a similar percentage fled with a sibling or spouse/partner (18 and 15 percent respectively). A small number (less than five percent) fled with nephews, cousins, aunts or uncles, grandparents or grandchildren. Also, 9 percent confirmed no family member was left behind in the country of origin.

In this sense, many families seem to be opting to flee together from the north of Central America. This is seen, on some occasions, as the only option to avoid personal harm of any of the members of the family in the country of origin.

During qualitative discussions, persons in the context of human mobility highlighted that the process of displacement was complex and resulted from simultaneous factors, but violence was a common theme. For example, in some cases, prior to the cross-border displacement, families fled several times within their country to escape extortions and threats by gangs, and this led to serious economic hardship. Persecution and threats often followed them to new communities.  This is a key factor of forced displacement from northern Central America: the causes often combine issues of persecution, security, corruption and the impossibility to make ends meet as a family unit. For this reason, families often reported a lack of employment and a lack of social protection as reasons to leave the country, in addition to other push factors, including violence.

When looking at the survey results taken Mexico, amongst those seeking asylum, nearly half of the families interviewed there (49 percent)  identified violence as their main motivation to flee from northern Central America, including death threats (30 percent), extortion (10 percent), recruitment by gangs (6 percent),  abuse, domestic violence and sexual violence -including sexual harassment- (3.4 percent), and attempted murder and abduction or kidnapping (0.4 percent). Many of these families who had fled the north of Central America reported undertaking actions to counteract the situations of violence prior to fleeing to Mexico, including to move away from the people threatening or hurting them (30 percent) or filing a criminal report (25 percent).

Children and adolescents

The study included 359 interviews with children. The average age among those interviewed was 16 years old. Among them, of the total children in transit (189), 30 percent were unaccompanied. Overall, the majority of unaccompanied children were boys (75 percent). Of the total unaccompanied children, eight were mothers and fathers. Two of the mothers, 15 and 16 years old respectively, fled with other adolescents. Among them was a person with disabilities.

In a world ruled by gangs and other criminal organizations and characterized by extreme violence, young men, women and teenagers in northern Central America are particularly vulnerable. Violence, especially death threats associated with recruitment, directly affect children and adolescents. Children described facing several push factors, including different types of violence and the lack of opportunities and services in their countries. Of these children travelling alone, 30 percent identified some type of violence as their main reason of displacement, which in turn affected their ability to access basic rights, including going to school.

Across the region, access to education is severely threatened by the influence of gangs within or around schools, looking to recruit children and teenagers and also threating and attacking teachers. This alone is a cause of displacement, both because children are at heightened risk of recruitment, and because their families hope to find unhindered access to education elsewhere.

In this context, school dropout rates are high, often linked to the forced displacement of the child or the entire family. It is estimated that nearly 900,000 children are out of school in Honduras. In 2018 alone, 49,000 school children dropped out in El Salvador, as did 227,000 in Guatemala.

In addition to already living in significant poverty and facing the imminent risk of recruitment, in contexts where families must pay gang extortion fees, many children and adolescents in northern Central America feel compelled to help sustain their families. This not only increases school drop-out rates, but also accounts for a significant portion of interviewees who cite the search for livelihood options as a cause for their displacement.

In view of the multiple issues children and adolescents face in these countries, they find themselves in a context where fleeing is often the only viable choice to survive. However, fleeing the country unaccompanied by family members, increases risks exponentially for children. Violence forced a larger proportion of unaccompanied children to flee as compared to those fleeing with their families. Amongst unaccompanied children, 21 percent reported fleeing death threats, 5 percent said to be fleeing gang recruitment, 2 percent were running from domestic violence and another 2 percent from extortion. 

The cross-border displacement of children, particularly of those fleeing unaccompanied by family members, often turns into repeated attempts to reach Mexico or the United States, fueled by smugglers offering multiple trips. Of unaccompanied children interviewed in transit, 66 percent noted that in the event that they would be detained and deported to their country of origin, they would try to flee their country again and 25 percent of them were already on their second or third attempt to reach the United States or Mexico.

Fifty-four percent of unaccompanied children had considered seeking asylum, compared to 30 percent of the children accompanied by family members. However, neither a majority of unaccompanied nor accompanied children knew where or how to present an asylum claim, highlighting the need to improve the availability of this information. Only 5 percent of unaccompanied children and 8 percent of accompanied children could describe where they could find information on the process for seeking asylum.

The already dangerous journey is even more so for vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied children. Thirty-two  percent of the children that fled with their families stated they had put their physical integrity at risk during the displacement. This indicator increased to 46 percent for unaccompanied children. Eleven children in total mentioned been at risk of sexual exploitation during the displacement, eight of them being unaccompanied children.

Indigenous people

Indigenous families are particularly vulnerable, especially those who were forced to leave their lands and moved to urban areas controlled by criminal groups. Very often, indigenous people flee internally in the hope of one day returning to their land or staying close to family members.

Of the total number of families participating in the study, 12 percent belonged to different indigenous people, and most of these were from Honduras and Guatemala, especially from the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Garifuna families from Guatemala and Honduras are the most represented among those in transit and asylum. Another indigenous people identified during the study, in lower proportions, was the Q’egchi.

The dangers of the journey

The average size group of those interviewed undertaking the journey was six people, including many families composed of two. Half of the women and men had children, however the percentage of mothers traveling with children alone is higher (39 percent) than fathers traveling alone with children (19 percent). The majority of families had been on the move for around one month on average, counting from the day they left their country. This timeframe was longer for women as compared to men, highlighting that the journey is much longer, and more dangerous for women, who see the need to take more precautionary measures, such as avoiding traveling during nighttime, and the need to find safe shelter to sleep.

Six percent of the families traveling had a pregnant woman in their group, a similar percentage of families were moving with a person with disabilities, and another five percent included a person with a chronic illness. In addition, families required medicine, medical services and legal counseling, and many mentioned specifically that they had not been able to receive this assistance during their travel.

Needs of families during the Journeys

Forty percent of families reported being in need of shelter during their journey; another 40 percent reported needing food; and 9 percent was in need of clothing. Families faced a range of challenges during their journey: 39 percent reported not having the economic resources to purchase basic goods, including life-saving medicines. Nearly a third mentioned a fear of being detained or of being asked for bribes by authorities for not having legal documentation. In relation to the lack of economic resources, over half of the families (54 percent) cited that they did seek employment during their journey to address their basic needs, although most did not manage to find such employment. Of those that did gain employment, 11 percent were threatened with being reported to authorities by employers.

Conditions of displacement led to unexpected risks along the route. In this regard, 54 percent of the interviewed families mentioned risks such as dangerous means of transportation, extreme weather conditions, sexual violence, robbery, among others. Due to a lack of knowledge of the requirements to cross borders and their irregular migration status, they were forced to take more dangerous routes and didn’t seek help for fear of being detained. Risk factors increased when the family had some people with specific needs –including pregnant women, people with disabilities or with chronic illnesses.

As noted above, there is a generalized lack of knowledge about the requirements to seek asylum and on processes to migrate regularly. The majority of families do not have information on how to request a visa or asylum, and a quarter was on the move without any documentation. This lack of identity documents during displacement heightens the risk of immigration detention or exacerbates factors of abuse and violence when attempting to avoid it. Additionally, this compelled families on the run to refrain from seeking help when they needed it as they feared they would be found to not have a regular migration status or documentation.

Some people interviewed, including asylum seekers and returned adolescents, when describing the conditions of migratory detention in Mexico pointed out that they were subjected to physical force, intimidation with firearms, food deprivation and that they had to sleep on dirty mattresses smelling of urine. They also indicated that while in detention they were not provided with adequate information about international protection options or on return and deportation procedures.

The most prevalent fear of families in transit who were interviewed was a risk of harm. Nearly half of the families believed their physical integrity was at risk during their journey, and 54 percent of them mentioned the risks were associated with moving through dangerous places. This was followed by the risk of becoming separated from their children, identified by 49 families in transit. Some members of 16 families (of a total of 637) felt at risk of having to resort to survival sex.

Traveling in ‘Caravans’

Between 2018 and early 2020, people from northern Central America formed “caravans” in the hopes of reaching Mexico and the United States. These groups were comprised of persons with international protection needs, as well as those seeking to improve their economic situation or hoping to reunite with family members abroad. A notable feature of these movements were the large numbers of families with children, many citing conditions that made remaining in their countries of origin intolerable.

This study included 219 families amongst the “caravan” that departed from Honduras in January 2020. While 70 percent said they were in search of better economic opportunities, nearly 60 percent of them fled from areas that have recorded the highest rates of violence in Honduras. This would indicate the significant impact of violence on the socioeconomic situation of families on the run, pushing them to flee in desperate conditions.

As seen in those fleeing individually, a significant number of families traveling as a part of caravans had planned to seek asylum either in Mexico or the United States (69 percent), but were unfamiliar with the documentation they needed (83.7 percent), how to file an asylum claim (81.9 percent) or the institutions they could ask for help in this regard (88 percent). This reinforces the overall need to invest in public information initiatives about the right to seek asylum for people fleeing violence.

Finding safety

This part of the study was focused on Mexico as a country of asylum, where 437 interviews were undertaken with families from El Salvador (28 percent), Honduras (49 percent) and Guatemala (23 percent).

While it used to be a country of transit for people hoping to reach the U.S., Mexico has increasingly become a destination country for people seeking protection from Central America. Asylum applications in Mexico have soared from around 2,100 in 2014 to over 70,000 by the end of 2019. Of the families interviewed in MExico,49 percent cited violence as the main reason for their displacement, while 91 percent of interviewed families had sought asylum. Of these, 71 percent had their cases pending resolution and 24 percent were already recognized as refugees.

The majority of the asylum-seeking or refugee families in Mexico have access to housing. They described among their main needs: food, medical attention, employment and education for their children. In fact, 58 percent of families have had difficulty accessing food during their time in Mexico, with 26 percent receiving support from the Mexican government, and 38 percent obtaining support from NGOs. Around half of the families had access to medical attention.

Fifty-eight percent of the families sought employment in Mexico. Of these, 64 percent successfully secured a job, 90 percent of which were temporary. A third  of the heads of households had informal employment, 24 percent worked for hours or days without a formal contract, 20 percent did not have a job contract, and 14 percent were paid based on completed tasks regardless of how many hours these take. Four percent report begging for money.

Despite Mexico’s many positive efforts to welcome and include asylum seekers, many interviewed families considered their living situation to be difficult. Uncertainty over their migration status, backlogs in the asylum system as a result of increasing claims, coupled with other factors like lack of resources or discrimination, have hindered their access to formal employment, health and education. These situations have not changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and have worsened in many cases. Confinement and quarantines have significantly increased challenges for families in countries of asylum, like Mexico, to become self-sufficient and exercise fundamental rights.

Of the asylum-seeking and refugee children in Mexico who were interviewed, 68 percent were not in school. A high number (68 percent) highlighted a lack of resources to cover the costs of education. Moreover, families mentioned the following additional reasons for their children not being in school: children were not of school age (18 percent), displacement has been recent (3 percent), children must work (3 percent), families fear for their children’s safety (2 percent), the education center is far away (1 percent), bullying at schools (0.4 percent), children must take care of family members (0.4 percent), and disability (0.4 percent).

In terms of housing, 79 percent of the families had secured a place to live. Another 20 percent were staying in a shelter.