Surge in Central America minors trying to cross desert into US
04/04/2014 / UNITED STATES/MEXICO
Surge in Central America minors trying to cross desert into US
The US government has recorded a surge in the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the southern US border from Central America. Our Observers at the border are seeing more children try to make the dangerous crossing into the US through the Sonoran desert. These children, younger than ever before, say that they are fleeing for their lives.
Last year, US Customs and Border Protection apprehended 21,537 unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. While the number of adult apprehensions is down, the number of children has more than doubled every year for the past three years, according to UNHCR’s report, “Children on the Run.” Experts say that the number could reach 60,000 in 2014.
“There’s an assumption that kids are coming because they are being drawn by the promise of the US, but what we found is that they are running from something,” said Michelle Brané of the Women’s Refugee Commission, which reported on the trend in “Forced from Home.”
That “something” is violence. Drug cartels and gangs are terrorizing the populations of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Domestic violence is also rising, which experts tie to societal breakdown.
More:
http://observers.france24.com/content/20140404-central-america-children-border-arizona
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