The International Red Cross asked the States this Sunday to guarantee humanitarian assistance to migrants in transit through Central America, a region that feels the direct and indirect blows of Julia, which hit the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua as a category 1 hurricane.
Central America, one of the areas of the world most vulnerable to the climate crisis, has been on alert since last Thursday due to the arrival of Julia, which has already left damage in Nicaragua and rains in part of this region of almost 50 million inhabitants, many mired in poverty.
Thousands of irregular migrants now travel through Central America on their way north, in a flow that has not stopped growing this year, it will close with a new record number of these travelers according to international organizations.
They “are oblivious to any early warning” from the countries they pass through, without access to timely information on weather conditions or places of refuge, which leaves them “completely vulnerable,” the head of community participation and accountability in America of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Diana Medina.
Related news: Julia downgrades to a tropical storm as it moves over Nicaragua
“A migrant person is also not connected to the health networks of the countries in which they transit, so it is very possible that before, during and after (the onslaught of the natural phenomenon) it will be impossible for them to access the necessary health services. In addition, many of them are already traveling in precarious health conditions, “added the official of the humanitarian agency.
Therefore, “it is vital that States guarantee humanitarian assistance and protection to all people who require it, regardless of their nationality or immigration status.”
“The Red Cross is prepared to assist in this task, through its network of humanitarian service points installed along the migratory route, its early action protocols and disaster response plans,” Medina said.
More than 160,000 irregular migrants have arrived in Panama so far this year, the gateway to Central America through the dangerous jungle of Darién, the natural border with Colombia, a new historical figure that has already exceeded the previous one: 133,726 in 2021 .
The Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Panama told EFE that it calculates that this year the travelers who cross the Darien will “easily exceed 200,000.”
The IFRC told EFE last July that irregular migration had grown by 689% in Honduras and 108% in Mexico.
Related news: Julia remains a hurricane over Nicaragua
Most of these migrants and refugees in transit come from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti. The nationals of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico continue to leave their countries to the north, and at the same time they register a significant increase in returnees, said the international organization EFE
and the previous one: 133,726 in 2021. The Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Panama told EFE that it calculates that this year the travelers who cross the Darien will “easily exceed 200,000.”
The IFRC told EFE last July that until then irregular migration had grown by 689% in Honduras and 108% in Mexico. Most of these migrants and refugees in transit come from Cuba, Venezuela and Haiti.
The nationals of Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico continue to leave their countries to the north, and at the same time they register a significant increase in returnees, said the international organization EFE
