A. Situation Analysis
Description of the Disaster
The migration phenomenon has increased worldwide in recent years due to armed conflict, violence, economic crises and the desire for family reunification. It is believed that 3.4 per cent of the world's population is living outside its country of origin; this represents more than 247 million people.
Migration currently involves many routes and definite countries of destination. In Latin America, the most common destination country is the United States, with migrants using various means and routes to go there. In that regard, Honduras is a fixed point along the way, either as a stop along the way or a starting point. It is estimated that 40,000 to 100,000 people are currently transiting through Central America; however, Central American governments do not have official figures and the numbers that have been provided in this report are simply estimates. The Honduran Red Cross attempted to obtain information from the Honduran Ministry of Health and it even held a meeting with the agency to this end; nevertheless, it was unable to secure official information on the migration crisis.
According to estimates, 20,000 people have transited through Central America since November 2015; however, this number could be significantly higher as the irregular migrants could have used alternative routes that are not controlled by the Central American countries’ border agencies.
According to the National Immigration Institute (INM for its acronym in Spanish), a total of 20,611 migrants passed through the country in transit to the United States in 2015, mostly from Cuba (18,652). Their point of entry has been the city of Choluteca where they receive care through the Care Centre for Irregular Migrants (CAMI for its acronym in Spanish), a government institution that in these last two weeks (21 August to 2 September, 2016) has received more than 2,500 migrants, most of which are from Haiti and to a lesser extent from Cuba, Congo, Senegal, Somalia, Eritrea, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. HRC and ICRC staff travelled to Choluteca from 13 to 14 September 2016 to assess the situation and verify that the number of migrants remained the same.