Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am pleased to be here with you today to discuss the situation in Central America and the root causes that are driving migrants and asylum seekers to flee this region.
I am an analyst for the International Crisis Group, which is a conflict prevention organization based in Brussels that combines field-based research, in-depth analysis and high-level advocacy on how to solve and mitigate deadly conflicts.
In this capacity, I cover Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador from Guatemala City, where I am based, although I am constantly travelling through the region. Over the past two years, I have conducted extensive research on the three countries to study the issues of gang violence, institutional weakness, political instability and other factors that have become increasing drivers of forced migration.
One of the main lessons that I have learned from several hundred interviews in the field with government officials, civil society, victims, etc., is the following one.
Seeking better economic opportunities and escaping poverty has traditionally been and still is the main reason that Central Americans leave their home countries. However, over the past five years, criminal violence has also become an important push factor for forced migration. This has been reflected in the number of asylum requests from the region which, according to the UNHCR, has seen a tenfold increase since 2013.
Not only has the reason for fleeing changed, but the profile of the migrant has changed as well. Traditionally, we saw young male migrants who attempted to cross to the United States to send some extra money to their families back home. Today, we see more family units, women and unaccompanied children.
This is significant for the following reason. An 18-year-old boy from Honduras might be willing to risk his life for a better job. A pregnant woman won't do that just for the money. She, as well as those in other vulnerable groups, is more likely to be escaping a life-or-death situation.
In their journey north, undocumented migrants are exposed to kidnappings, human trafficking, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, robbery and extortion. However, the situation they leave behind is often worse than the potential dangers of the trip itself.
In countries such as El Salvador, criminal groups like the MS-13 and the two factions of the 18th Street gang are the de facto authority in around 80% of the national territory. They impose their control through extortion rackets, payments from medium-sized and small businesses, forced recruitment and targeted violence. Any kid between eight and 18 years old is eligible for forced recruitment, and girls are usually victims of sexual abuse. I have documented cases of sex slavery of young girls by criminal groups.
The issue of gang recruitment in Central America is usually overlooked, but it has many similarities to the case of child soldiers in an African context, which in the long term has tremendous psychological and physical effects on these children.
Just to give you the magnitude of the gang violence problem, in El Salvador alone there are 65,000 active gang members that have a social support base of around half a million people, or around 8% of the country's population of 6.5 million. Imagine nearly one out of 10 Canadians being either indirectly or directly related to a criminal group.
In Honduras, gangs are not as powerful as they are in El Salvador, but they also have a significant presence in the country's largest cities, especially in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and San Pedro Sula. In Honduras, gangs have stronger links with the drug trafficking routes, which, since the 2009 coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya, have become an important transit point of drugs in the region.
On top of the gang violence, there are also in Honduras important levels of political instability. The crisis after the general election on November 26, 2017, which spiked social unrest and numerous protests that left around 30 dead, was the latest sign of the civil, political and social wounds that the country has been dragging since the 2009 coup.
In both countries, the policies the governments have implemented over the past 15 years to fight criminal groups have also fuelled insecurity in the communities, generating even more conditions for fleeing. People, especially young people, are victimized twice. On one hand, the gangs target them to get into the gang by extortion, threatening to kill them if they refuse, but at the same time the police officers harass them and treat them as criminals even if they are not gang members, just for the fact that they live in a community controlled by a gang. All in all, these have been the main issues that have created more reasons for Central American migrants to flee their homes in recent years.
The caravan travelling through Mexico these days is the latest example of how the countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have failed so far to respond to the necessities of their citizens and provide safety, access to basic needs and economic prosperity. There is no doubt that in the long term the solution to tackle this humanitarian crisis has to start from stronger political will by local authorities. However, the problem has grown so much that these countries cannot do it alone.
Canada, following on its solidarity approach to the victims of the civil wars in the 1970s and the 1980s, now again has a chance to make a difference in the region. First and foremost, the priority at this moment should be protecting vulnerable groups, especially women or children who have credible asylum claims and qualify for refugee status. Again I am very much convinced, based on my research, that when we are referring to women and children, usually they are overwhelmingly fleeing violence and not solely poverty.
Members of the LGBTQ community, many of them survivors of sexual violence, should also be considered a vulnerable group. The UNHCR has identified over 1,000 people who need to be relocated from Central America due to risk of reprisal from criminal gangs or their being rape survivors. Canadians' well-known, welcoming attitude for the most vulnerable refugees can be once again put into good use.
Canada is already helping Mexico, which has seen a 300% increase of refugee claims since 2014, to strengthen its asylum system. Apart from Mexico, other countries such as Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica and Belize, which have also seen a surge in applications for refugee status, could also benefit from Canadian assistance. Canada could share with these countries its expertise in assisting refugee claims.
Co-operation with Central American countries to help them tackle the root causes of migration should also be part of a broader strategy focused on reducing the levels of criminal violence and boosting development in the region. More specifically, Canada could consider increasing co-operation funds for anti-corruption institutions and violence prevention in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The safer Central Americans feel in their home countries and the more they trust their institutions, the less likely they will have to consider forced migration.
Thank you very much.