Tegucigalpa, March 2. Honduras must work to prevent internal displacement forced by violence, which forced 631 people to flee their homes between 2021 and 2022, and offer “durable solutions”, the Pastorale de Movilidad Humana, an organization of the Honduran Catholic Church .
“It is very necessary to have a theme of prevention, attention and protection” of the displaced, said the coordinator of the Forced Displacement Unit due to the violence of the pastoral care of human mobility, Fany Martínez , in an interview with EFE in Tegucigalpa.
The Honduran parliament last December approved the law on the prevention, care and protection of people displaced by violence, a phenomenon that the country recognized in 2013.
Honduras needs, according to Martínez, “a comprehensive system where the state is the guarantor of the rights of displaced people” with an emphasis on prevention.
According to the latest study presented in 2019, some 247,000 people had to leave their homes and seek protection in another part of the country for reasons related to violence caused by armed groups, gangs or maras between 2014 and 2018.
Martínez regretted that Honduras does not have current national figures and disaggregated information that makes internal displacement in the country more visible.
He considers that the lack of current data “does not allow us to have a complete picture” of forced internal displacement, a problem which, together with violence, has increased in recent years.
MULTIFACTORIAL CAUSES
Martínez pointed out that one of the conclusions of the Pastorale de Movilidad Humana was that the causes of forced internal displacement in Honduras “are multifactorial, that is, they are violence, economic situation, social risks and many other factors”.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the displaced people are victims of threats, intimidation, extortion, violence and forced recruitment.
“We have seen that threats are the main cause, which is interconnected with the other causes, that is, the fact that a family member dies or is murdered also causes a threat to people”, he explained.
According to a study by the Pastorale de Movilidad Humana, 57.1% of people were forcibly displaced due to threats; 10.38% for murders of relatives; 8.44% for forced recruitment of children and adolescents by organized criminal gangs; 5.84% for attempted homicide; 4.54% for extortion; 3.24% for persecution by state institutions and 2.59% for sexual violence.
35.97% of displaced people in Honduras are under 18, which shows that children are “direct victims” of this phenomenon, and 64.02% are over 18, details the organization’s report. Catholic Church.
WOMEN, THE MOST AFFECTED
Martínez specified that women are the ones who have forcibly moved the most in the last two years, with 50.39%, while men represent 49.61%.
The departments that register the most cases of forced displacement are Cortés, north, with 37.86%; Francisco Morazán, center, with 24.27%, and Yoro, also in the north, with 15.53%, he added.
He also affirmed that it is essential to have a “comprehensive” system that helps prevent all causes of internal forced displacement in Honduras.
In this context, the representative of the Catholic Church organization recommended promoting “durable solutions” because people need “long-term solutions” to avoid their displacement, and to receive assistance and be rehoused once they have decided to leave their home.
People need “relocation that is long term, that is sustainable, so that when people relocate to another place due to displacement, they can have a more stable place, so ultimately those are solutions based on prevention during and after displacement”, he underlined.
Most of the displaced people ask for “international protection measures” and many of them, when they are forced to leave their homes, encounter “many difficulties” and see “many of their rights flouted”.
The expert assured that the State of Honduras has “the obligation” to protect displaced people even when they have crossed an international border.