By Giwa SHILE
Hundreds of people from Central American States who joined the human caravans travelling towards the United States have been helped home after asking for assistance, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has said.
Protection officer Martiza Matarrita said many migrants had learnt about the caravans via social media and television reports and had not understood what was involved in the trek to the U.S. border.
“Many of them said it was almost an impulse, they didn’t stop to think about the risks and the exhausting days of walking. They just joined a group of friends or neighbours and joined the caravan,” she said.
The UN agency – which said 62 per cent of those who joined the caravans did so to search for work – also cited the testimony of Dennis Javier, one of the migrants who requested IOM’s support to go home.
“My destination was the U.S., I was looking for a job. Working is what I’ve done since I was 11. But seeing things as they are, I changed my mind. I think it’s best for me to return to El Salvador,” Javier said.
More than 450 migrants have been helped back to their countries of origin since November 4, via IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return programme, which is funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration.
According to the UN agency, more than eight in 10 returnees were men and nearly one in three were aged 19 to 25.
Nearly six in 10 people of those who joined the caravans came from Honduras, almost four in 10 were from El Salvador and around one in 20 were from Guatemala.
According to the UN agency, an additional 25 unaccompanied migrant children were helped home by plane, adding that in the Mexican city of Tijuana – close to the U.S. border – more than 300 people have also sought the agency’s help to go home.
“IOM is coordinating safe and dignified means of transport for them. Migrants wishing to return are counselled and screened by IOM to evaluate their options prior to making the decision to return,” the agency said in a statement.
In addition to its facilities in Tijuana, IOM also runs information and registration booths in Tapachula, Mexico City, and in Tecun Uman, Guatemala.
To ensure the safe return of the migrants, IOM coordinates with the governments of the returnees, who receive food and psychosocial support at border crossings.
When they arrive at reception centres in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, migrants receive hygiene kits and, in many cases, transportation money to get home.
According to IOM, although “a large number” of migrants who had joined the caravans had “muscle disorders, fatigue and malaise cough and flu,” more than four out of five were in “healthy” shape.
Since 1979, IOM said it had helped 1.5 million migrants return to their country of origin or residence through its assisted returns scheme.
Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America, and the Caribbean, said “a voluntary returns programme is an indispensable part of a comprehensive approach to migration management.
“It is aimed at orderly and humane return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in host or transit countries and wish to return voluntarily to their countries of origin,” Pisani said.
