Tegucigalpa.
The Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras, Blanca Izaguirre, on Monday called on the relevant authorities to respect the rights of the caravan of migrants and urged countries to create regional coordination mechanisms to identify people in need of protection.
In a statement, Izaguirre called for “calm” and again urged migrant countries to “respect the dignity and make effective the human rights of people seeking the American dream.”
“States have ensure that migration be regular, orderly and safe to prevent crimes that attack compatriots who are in the context of migration, ”he stressed.
Guatemalan security forces today forcibly disbanded a caravan of migrants made up of more than 6,000 Hondurans seeking to cross the Central American country to advance to Mexico and then try to reach the United States.
According to Efe, about 500 agents of the National Civil Police and soldiers of the Guatemalan Army evacuated the road where the migrants were stranded since last Saturday in the department of Chiquimula, Close to the border with Honduras and located about 200 kilometers east of the country’s capital.
Hondurans are part of a caravan of more than 9,000 people, according to official estimates, which left San Pedro Sula, Northern Honduras City, between last Wednesday and Friday.
Protection mechanism
The human rights defender in Honduras also called on countries to guarantee the human right to migrate.
“States must have a differentiated approach to caring for people inside the caravan, as within it are driven people with protection needs, who cannot return to the country,” he stressed.
Izaguirre urged states to generate “binational and regional coordination mechanisms” to identify cases of migrants requiring protection measures prior to their return, and to activate national protection mechanisms for those displaced by violence.
Countries must also “ensure the principles of special protection and best interests of the child during the family reunification procedures of unaccompanied children who are returned to the country,” he added.
Respect laws and travel peacefully
The ombudsman also called on the Honduran and Guatemalan authorities to “ensure a safe return” for people who decide not to continue the trip and urged migrants to “respect the laws” of the countries and travel “peacefully.” .
Izaguirre reaffirmed the Honduran body’s commitment to the caravan and assured that the state institution will continue “working to obtain subregional, regional and universal support” on the obligation of states to “protect and respect the human rights of migrants.” .
“It is essential to influence the construction of public policies to counter the structural causes that cause forced migration and to address the origins of extraordinary migratory flows from Honduras and forced displacement within it,” said the Commissioner of human rights.