October/November 2015 Digital Edition

UN Report Highlights Worsening Refugee
Crisis in the Americas
by Walter ewing
The Northern triangle of central
america—comprising el Salvador,
guatemala, and Honduras—is now
one of the most dangerous places
on the planet. The United Nations
estimates that Honduras has the
highest homicide rate in the world,
while el Salvador comes in fifth and
guatemala sixth. it is for this reason
that so many central american
families have made the very difficult
decision to send their children
out of their home countries, bound
primarily to the United States, in
the care of often violent and abusive
smugglers. However, the refugee
crisis currently gripping the
Northern triangle encompasses not
only unaccompanied children, but
mothers with children, as well as entire
families. and it shows no signs
of ending anytime soon.
Related Content: Unaccompanied
Children: A Resource Page
The scope of this crisis, as well as
its level of brutality, are vividly described
in a report from the United
Nations High commissioner for
refugees (UNHcr), titled Women
on the Run. as the report explains,
the women and children who are
arriving at the U.S.-mexico border,
as well as the borders of other
countries in the region, are leaving
places in which government institutions
have effectively lost control
of territory that has come under the
control of armed gangs which kill
with impunity, extort money from
anyone they want, and rape women
as they please.
Consider the story of Norma
in El Salvador:
in late 2014, four gang members abducted
her and took her to a nearby
cemetery. Three of the four proceeded
to rape her; she believes they targeted
her because she was married
14
to a police officer. “They took their
turns…they tied me by the hands.
They stuffed my mouth so i would
not scream.” When it was over, she
said, “They threw me in the trash.”
She contracted a sexually transmitted
disease as a result of the rape.
Not surprisingly, the report found
that, among the thousands of women
and girls from the Northern triangle
who journeyed to the U.S. and
“expressed a fear of being returned
to their home country and were
subject to the credible fear screening
process, U.S. authorities have
found that a large percentage have
a significant possibility of establishing
eligibility for asylum or protec-