Central America could be on the brink of a new humanitarian crisis with over 175,000 Hondurans internally displaced by violence, which human rights defenders fear could push the next massive wave of migrants to brave the perilous journey north.
OPINION:
US Counter-Insurgency Policing Tactics Ravage Honduras
The representative in Honduras for the U.N. refugee agency, or UNCHR, Andres Celis, argued on Wednesday that the Honduran government has “accepted” the problem and is working on taking steps to address the problem, including through setting up an Interagency Commission for the Protection of People Displaced by Violence and considering possible new legislation, Proceso Digital reported.
But the Honduran government is also to blame for violence in Honduras, which has skyrocketed in the wake of the 2009 U.S.-backed military coup that ousted former President Manuel Zelaya, casting doubt on authorities’ political will and ability to get the country’s precarious security situation under control.
United States foreign policy has also had a role in fueling violence by funding corrupt state security forces, reportedly linked to death squads and organized crime, and rolling out the militarized war on drugs in the region that provides incentives for traffickers by increasing drug prices north of the Mexico-U.S. border.
According to teleSUR correspondent Gerardo Torres, there have been cases of gangs ordering communities in poor neighborhoods of the capital city Tegucigalpa to abandon their homes, leaving families hesitant to return amid threats of violence after the evictions.
UNHCR reports that as of June 2015, over 13,500 Honduran asylum seekers were awaiting a response on their applications and over 4,000 were recognized as refugees.
WATCH: Gangs Force Thousands to Leave Their Homes