By The newspaper
Jun 19, 2024, 8:03 PM EDT
Members of social organizations held a press conference in Guatemala City, where they reported that a total of 5,461 people are waiting for the country to accept them as refugees. Of the total, 44% are women who left their places of origin due to severe problems they face and are looking for a place to have a decent life.
The National Protection Network entity, made up of twelve social organizations in Guatemala, detailed the figure in a press conference and demanded that the Guatemalan authorities “integrate the refugee applicants into society.”
The organization revealed that 3% of the requests that are pending a response from Guatemalan officials come from people from the LGBTQ+ community.
They request shelter due to violence
During the conference they said that refugee requests are due to violence, as well as other reasons, including inequality and discrimination, which have forced people to flee “forcedly from their communities,” said Ericka Sánchez, representative of the human rights organization Cristosal, which is also a member of the Network.
At the level of migration, the National Protection Network stated that this year it has assisted 51,796 people who needed assistance of some kind during their transit through Guatemala on their journey to the north of the continent.
Migrants from Central America
Officials said that among the 5,000 people seeking support from Guatemala, they are from Venezuela, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras and El Salvador, according to official data. Most of them only wait until they achieve their final goal, which is to reach the United States.
The data shared by the organization coincide with the framework of World Refugee Day, which is celebrated every June 20.
Every year, thousands of migrants enter Guatemala by land irregularly with the aim of crossing the Central American country and reaching Mexico, and then undertaking the great challenge of crossing the border into the United States in search of better living conditions.
In Mexico more than a million irregular migrants
In recent days, the National Migration Institute (INM) of Mexico reported that, between January and May 2024, it located 1,393,683 foreigners with irregular immigration status. The migrants come from 177 countries on five continents.
Through a statement, the INM detailed that 738,270 of the migrants were adult men traveling alone, while 362,979 were unaccompanied adult women. In addition, 154,291 adults traveling in family groups were identified, accompanied by 135,151 minors. 2,992 unaccompanied minors were also detected.
With information from EFE
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