The Ignored History of the Migrant Refugee Crisis
August 25, 2014
The Children of Conflict
The Ignored History of the Migrant Refugee Crisis
by MATT FORD
Friday July 25 will not make history as the first time a war criminal was greeted at the White House. Nevertheless, this was the day that Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, who has been condemned for his role in the torture and murder of civilians by the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission as well as journalists and academics, sat down with President Obama. Along with the Presidents of El Salvador and Honduras, the Heads of State gathered to discuss the causes of the massive northern exodus from Central America, as well as the 50,000 migrants—largely women and children—that have already been detained by the US government for crossing the border. The silence about the literal skeletons in Molina’s closet reveals a much larger historical legacy that has been ignored in the discourse around the border crisis.
The President’s are not alone in the diplomatic theatrics. Last month, a delegation of California lawmakers visited Central America to meet with the political leadership of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. According to press reports, the lawmakers hoped to explore the “political, economic, and social environments” of the nations in order to understand why thousands of people are fleeing north. Repeated references to gangs and violence seem to have satisfied the need for a push factor. However, as we might expect, this fails to understand the roots of the violence that plagues the Central American nations.
The thousands of children detained in warehouses and military bases in the Southwestern US have polarized the nation and illuminated the worst racial tensions that loom under the shallow surface. Among the worst of examples are the Ku Klux Klan using the recent publicity as a recruiting tool by advocating a “shoot to kill” border policy. Of the many repugnant versions that can be found in the back pages of California newspapers is a Letter to the Editor in the Fresno Bee in which Ed Miller, who identifies himself as a “freedom loving patriot,” recommends loading the “little crumb snatchers” onto cargo planes and flying them south of the border. When the plane is over its destination, Miller recommends, “fly in real low and slow and open the bay doors,” letting the children fall to their deaths.
On top of the abhorrent rhetoric floating around the reactionary US populace, the children have endured countless acts of inhumanity and degradation in the facilities of the US government. Girls have been forced to drink from toilets and faced physical and sexual assault from border patrol agents. One sixteen-year-old boy testified that a border patrol agent told him, “you are in my country now, and we are going to bury you in a hole.” According to the testimony of a seventeen-year-old Guatemalan girl, another border patrol agent told her, “we are going to put you on a plane, and i hope it explodes. That would be the happiest day of my life.”
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/08/25/the-ignored-history-of-the-migrant-refugee-crisis/