Latin America – Thematic Newsletter – Migrants, May 2024 – Colombia – ReliefWeb
INTRODUCTION
A person is considered an international migrant when he or she resides in a country other than the one in which he or she was born. This is the situation of 281 million people worldwide, in addition to almost 50 million people who require international protection because they are outside of their country of origin as a result of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political beliefs. Therefore, refugees are considered migrants. And there are also migrants who, without meeting the specific definition of a refugee established in international law, are also fleeing their places of origin as a result of natural disasters, violence or poverty. Although the media often publish daily news on different aspects of the migration issue, the fact is that the percentage of migrants over the last century has remained stable at around 3.6% of the world’s population. More figures: in 2023 only 10% of the people who had been forcibly displaced from their homes were settled in rich countries, 40% settled in a neighboring poor country, while half of these displaced people continued to live in another less insecure region or city, but in their own country. Also in 2023, along the 3,500 km border separating the U.S. and Mexico, more than 2 million people of different nationalities were apprehended while trying to cross northward. Among them were more than 500,000 Central Americans, the largest group in relative terms compared to other nationalities.
A review of history, including our beginnings as a species, shows that migration has been a constant response to multiple social, environmental, and economic problems and challenges. In addition to these factors that historically drive migration from areas of origin, there are also reasons of attraction from the places of destination, such as the existence of a labor market that requires a workforce with varying degrees of qualification, the possibility of accessing better public services such as health, education or public safety, and the existence of a support network of family or friends in the place of destination. Moreover, in our own lives, there are few of us who do not have a family member or loved one who has not migrated or is the result of some kind of migration.
According to the Gallup World Poll (GWP), Honduras is the third country in the world where a higher percentage of the population (56%) would like to migrate abroad if they had the opportunity. This survey (which does not include Venezuela) indicates that Honduras is the Latin American society in which migration is most attractive as an alternative to improve living conditions and achieve better future options for families.
