The global community should raise awareness about the growing humanitarian crises in El Salvador and Honduras that is prompting the population to flee to the neighboring countries, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) non-governmental organization told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2019) The global community should raise awareness about the growing humanitarian crises in El Salvador and Honduras that is prompting the population to flee to the neighboring countries, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) non-governmental organization told Sputnik."What we are witnessing in El Salvador and Honduras in terms of consequences, in terms of violence against population, is similar to what we see in countries at war ... What I think is important is to give visibility to this crisis, because it's very unknown. Even in Spain, which is close to Latin America, there is very little knowledge about what happens to people there," Marta Canas, the director of the MSF office in Barcelona and Athens, said.
To make matters worse, the fleeing nationals of El Salvador and Honduras are again being victimized in Mexico, according to the activist.
"And because they are exposed to such level of violence ... they go to Mexico. Through their journey to Mexico they will again be revictimized by being exposed to other levels of violence through smuggler groups or others, who would rape one third of the women; 68 percent are the victims of direct physical attacks," Canas underlined.
The mental consequences of this exposure to violence is the most difficult thing MSF teams have to work with, the MSF employee noted, adding funds should be allocated for creation of special follow-up mechanisms allowing doctors to track their patients after they carry on with their journey.
"There are many challenges in the provision of assistance. Some of this population - you only see them once. And this is extremely complex, because what you find are mostly mental health consequences could very rarely treated in just one time, it requires a follow-up. Our psychosocial teams are pushing to try and dedicate funds to find approaches that will allow us to somehow continue the provision of this assistance or allow migrants and refuges themselves to find mechanisms to tackle their problems," Canas said.
About 500,000 refugees cross the border from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - the countries of the Northern Triangle of Central America - into Mexico every year, fleeing violence in their home countries, according to the MSF figures. The countries suffer from extremely high rates of gang violence and murders, as well as poverty and unemployment.
