UNICEF / CENTRAL AMERICA MEXICO
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STORY: UNICEF / CENTRAL AMERICA MEXICO
TRT: 01:52
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: CREDIT UNICEF FOOTAGE ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: 01 -05 MAY 2018, QUETZALTENANGO, GUATEMALA; CHIMALTENANGO, GUATEMALA; GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA; PROGRESO, HONDURAS; OMOA, HONDURAS
MAY 2018, ANAPRA, MEXICO
1. Various shots, US - Mexico border wall
2. Close up, “NADIE ES ILEGAL” painted on wall
3. Wide shot, two girls with backpacks near border
4. Med shot, Young boy looks at train passing
MAY 2018, CHIMALTENANGO, GUATEMALA
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mary, Guatemalan Deportee:
“Here in this district, there's so much violence. Somebody dies every three or four days. It's very dangerous to go out at 9 pm.”
MAY 2018, PROGRESO, HONDURAS
6. Wide shot, Eric’s home in Honduras
7. Wide shot, barbed wire and nearby houses
8. Med shot, clothes drying on a barbed wire fence
9. Med shot, Eric doing the dishes
10. Med shot, Eric’s family after hearing the news that they’ll be evicted
MAY 2018, GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Zoe, Honduran Migrant:
“My dad did that to protect us because he wants a better life for us. Every father wishes that for their kids. So, I told him "I want to get out of here", because we live in a very dangerous country. It used to be a quiet place, but not anymore. What you'll hear very often is about murders of young people, just like me.”
MAY 2018, CASA NUESTRAS RAÍCES MIGRANT RECEPTION CENTER, QUETZALTENANGO, GUATEMALA
12. Various shots, sister hugs her older brother who’s just returned
13. Med shot, children are interviewed after being deported
MAY 2018, OMOA, HONDURAS
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Henry Ramírez, Teacher:
“It's unfortunate that the laws are made to understand us just like a number and we don't care about the human part.”
MAY 2018, CASA NUESTRAS RAÍCES MIGRANT RECEPTION CENTER, QUETZALTENANGO, GUATEMALA
15. Med shot, migrant reception center welcomes the returning children
16. Med shot, Rigoberto Morales Gerónimo is called in to see his mother
Extreme violence, poverty and lack of opportunity are not only powerful drivers of irregular child migration from northern Central America and Mexico, but also consequences of deportations from Mexico and the United States – UNICEF said today (15 Aug) in a new report.
The report, “Uprooted in Central America and Mexico,” examines the array of challenges and dangers faced by migrant and refugee children and families during the arduous process of migration and return.
The children’s agency urged governments to work together in implementing solutions shown to help alleviate the root causes of irregular and forced migration and safeguard the wellbeing of refugee and migrant children along the journey.
After seven months of being separated, Mary and her family were deported back to Guatemala. Chimaltenango, where the family live now, is crime infested. The family are particular targets as many think that they have come back with money.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mary, Guatemalan Deportee:
“Here in this district, there's so much violence. Somebody dies every three or four days. It's very dangerous to go out at 9 pm.”
Eric and his family live in a shack in a dangerous neighborhood in Progreso, Honduras. They live in a shack surrounded by barbed wire, but even that is tenuous. They were recently threatened with eviction due to overdue mortgage payments.
Zoe and her family fled from Honduras to Guatemala after Zoe received a death threat from a classmate who was heavily involved in one of the gangs. The family came through the Casa del Migrante center in Guatemala City which helped settle them in their new country.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Zoe, Honduran Migrant:
“My dad did that to protect us because he wants a better life for us. Every father wishes that for their kids. So, I told him "I want to get out of here", because we live in a very dangerous country. It used to be a quiet place, but not anymore. What you'll hear very often is about murders of young people, just like me.”
Casa Nuestras Raíces Quetzaltenango shelter, run by Guatemala’s Social Welfare Secretariat (SBS), has the capacity to accommodate about 2,250 unaccompanied migrant children
per month.
Henry Ramírez is a teacher in Omoa, Honduras. He has seen a huge number of his students taken out of school by their parents—mothers in particular—and taken to the US. Many are caught along the way, as well as in the US, and deported back to Honduras.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Henry Ramírez, Teacher:
“It's unfortunate that the laws are made to understand us just like a number and we don't care about the human part.”
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras are among the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with 44, 68 and 74 per cent of children living in poverty in each country respectively.
Children and families who migrate due to the threat of violence may be at even greater risk if they are forcibly returned without any support or protection to these communities where they were previously in danger. Many returnees end up being internally displaced because it is unsafe for them to return home.