WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) An influx of migration from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala is expected to continue for the foreseeable future and humanitarian groups must be prepared to deal with the situation, Deputy High Commissioner for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly Clements, said on Wednesday.
"We can certainly see that there is still going to be movement particularly in this hemisphere and more of it for the foreseeable future," Clements said during a panel discussion with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). "We need to get ready, we need to respond, we need to prepare and we need to do this very much in partnership with many others."
Clements and other officials in the CSIS discussion said asylum-seeking migrants from the so-called Northern Triangle countries are fleeing due to security concerns and for economic reasons, such as agricultural jobs lost because of droughts.
Regional Representative for the Northern Triangle of Corus International, Ralph Merriam, said corruption at institutions in the three Central American countries must also be dealt with at a macro level in order to improve quality of life for people considering migrating.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said there is no immigration crisis on the US-Mexico border, adding that his administration will be able to handle the influx of migrants arriving at the southern border.
The latest data from US Customs and Border Protection shows that the number of apprehensions of illegal migrants at the southern border has gradually increased since April 2020, reaching more than 70,000 each month between October to January.
