New Caravans of Honduran Asylum-Seekers Expected as Crisis Continues

New caravans of asylum-seekers are expected to depart from Honduras at the start of the new year and hundreds of families are reportedly willing to wait in Guatemala or bordering points until they are allowed to continue their journey north.

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Local media outlets warned that people are being summoned to leave on January 15 from the Metropolitan Central of San Pedro Sula and dozens more will join at the border with Mexico.

teleSUR's correspondent in Honduras, Gilda Silvestrucci, reports that the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a wave of violence in the country that affects the most vulnerable and impoverished regions. Hundreds of people have been forced to abandon their homes.

On December 10, a caravan of at least 400 people left for the U.S. searching for a new life after hurricanes ETA and Iota devastated their homes. Many of them reached the bordering region of Ocotepeque but authorities did not allow them to continue. Those border agents said the migrants were travelling without evidence of COVID-19 exams as well as travel permissions for minors.