By: Eden Suh
The migrant caravans- who are they, and why are there hundreds of news coverages on them? Thousands of Latin American migrants have left their respective countries to seek refuge in the United States. They have been gaining massive attention around the globe and have been the center of media stories because of their exponential growth in the past couple of months.
An estimated 7,000 people have already reached the US border in Tijuana, and it is predicted that a total number of 10,000 people will reach the border by the end of the year.[1] However, there are major human rights issues regarding these migrant caravans. There needs to be a shift in how we analyze and take in this news as a global community, because there are underlying issues that need to be unveiled and that starts with the question of why they left their homes to pursue a dangerous quest in the first place.
A large percentage of the migrants originate from Honduras as the caravan started there, people from Guatemala, as well as El Salvador have also joined the caravan.[2] Many similar factors, like extreme poverty, malnutrition violence against women, gang violence and exponential crime rates, (etc.) have driven these migrants to flee their respective countries. For example, Honduras in particular has suffered from poverty for decades, especially since the hit of hurricane Mitch in 1998. The Honduran government estimated that about 1.5 million suffered serious damage to their property, and about 7,000 people were killed in the deadly flooding from the hurricane. After the hurricane the poverty rate in Honduras jumped from 69.4% to 74.6%.[3] Studies also link the intense poverty rates with malnutrition and illness, as 70% of children in southern Honduras suffer undernutrition and infection endemics.[4] Not only does poverty affect the health of children but violent relations between parents have also shown to have impact on child mortality. Academic scholar, Emily Rico, and her co-publishers did a health survey with countries of Central American origin and found a correlation with child mortality and intimate partner violence.[5] With women as an overwhelming majority of victims of physical and sexual violence, their maternal performance is significantly hindered through both psychological traumas and physical wounds. State authorities of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador have failed to act in accordance with international human rights law, and with many issues like poverty and violence that threaten basic human rights to health and safety, thus migrants are forced to seek a better life elsewhere.
So what is the appropriate way to resolve this issue? Mexican state officials responded with setting up camps and busses to send them back to where they escaped from. President Trump responded with any means (tear gas, threats to cut off aid), to polarize the immigrants and the Americans as he has promised on his 2016 election campaign. We need a proper resolution, not some temporary one that will keep things at bay. Tear gassing or sending the migrants back will not resolve anything. Whether it be political reform or a shift in social discourse in these Latin American countries, there is a dire need for long term change.
[1] BBC News. “Migrant caravan: What is it and why does it matter?” Latin America, (2018).
[1] The Guardian. “Where is the migrant caravan from- and what will happen to it at the border” Americas, (2018).
[1] McKenzie, Sean, and Cecilia Menjívar. “The meanings of migration, remittances and gifts: views of Honduran women who stay.” Global Networks 11, no. 1 (2011): 63-81.
[1] Sanchez, Ana Lourdes, José Antonio Gabrie, Maritza Canales, María Mercedes Rueda, Gustavo A. Fontecha, Patrick W. Mason, Gonzalo Bearman, and Michael P. Stevens. “Soil-transmitted helminths, poverty, and malnutrition in honduran children living in remote rural communities.” Human Parasitic Diseases 2016, no. 8 (2016): 27-35.
[1] Rico, Emily, Bridget Fenn, Tanya Abramsky, and Charlotte Watts. “Associations between maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and child nutrition and mortality: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys in Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda.” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 65, no. 4 (2011): 360-367.
Sources: BBC News. “Migrant caravan: What is it and why does it matter?” Latin America, (2018).
The Guardian. “Where is the migrant caravan from- and what will happen to it at the border” Americas, (2018).
McKenzie, Sean, and Cecilia Menjívar. “The meanings of migration, remittances and gifts: views of Honduran women who stay.” Global Networks 11, no. 1 (2011): 63-81.
Sanchez, Ana Lourdes, José Antonio Gabrie, Maritza Canales, María Mercedes Rueda, Gustavo A. Fontecha, Patrick W. Mason, Gonzalo Bearman, and Michael P. Stevens. “Soil-transmitted helminths, poverty, and malnutrition in honduran children living in remote rural communities.” Human Parasitic Diseases 2016, no. 8 (2016): 27-35.
Rico, Emily, Bridget Fenn, Tanya Abramsky, and Charlotte Watts. “Associations between maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and child nutrition and mortality: findings from Demographic and Health Surveys in Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda.” Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 65, no. 4 (2011): 360-367.