1. Point of No Return: The Fear and Criminalization of Central American Refugees
- Author:
- Center for Migration Studies of New York
- Publication Date:
- 06-2017
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Center for Migration Studies of New York
- Abstract:
- The purpose of this study was to ascertain the challenges faced by Central American migrants who returned home after failing to gain asylum or other international protection in the United States or Mexico. Cristosal interviewed individuals who fled from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras under threats of violence and persecution and had been deported back to their country of origin to determine why they fled their homelands, why they could not secure asylum, and on their situations post-return. In the context of mass migration from these countries, the study used in- depth interviews to understand the different ways in which people experienced the violence and fear that forced them to flee and how their responses upon “voluntary return” or deportation back to their country of origin were shaped by that same violence. While there are many studies on the flight of persons from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), little is known about the experience of refugees who cannot secure protection in another country and are deported to their home country, from which they originally fled. What are the psychosocial, security, and human rights consequences for people who migrated out of fear for their lives and were then forced to return to the situation that forced them to flee?
- Topic:
- Migration, Regional Cooperation, Immigration, and Humanitarian Crisis
- Political Geography:
- United States, Central America, North America, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador