Description:
The US government under President Donald Trump is stepping up deportations and dismantling legal protections for refugees and asylum seekers, yet people are still seeking asylum in the US. In this episode of MSF Pulse, we look at why so many people fleeing countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador continue to risk trauma, separation, deportation and incarceration in the US.

Read More: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/article/violence-and-migration-central-america-neglected-humanitarian-crisis

Script:
The US government under President Donald Trump is stepping up deportations and dismantling legal protections for refugees and asylum seekers

Policies like forced separation are designed to deter families from entering in the United States.

Yet people are still seeking asylum in the US.

The reason so many people continue to risk trauma, separation, deportation and incarceration in the US is because they simply can't stay at home.

Every year, half a million people try to flee Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador where they face extreme violence on par with some of the world’s worst conflict zones.

[Every year, half a million people try to flee Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.]

El Salvador and Honduras were recently ranked among the top five countries in the world for violent deaths, alongside places like Afghanistan and Syria.

Most people fleeing violence head north in hopes of reaching safety in the United States.

Under US refugee law, people in need of asylum are afforded legal protections.

But the US Attorney General recently eliminated domestic and gang violence as legal grounds for asylum.

We know first-hand the risks these people fleeing violence face, both in their home countries and along the migration routes between Central America and the United States.

We provide emergency medical and psychological care in places like Honduras and Mexico, where our teams treat survivors of rape, torture and brutality.

The international community needs to live up to its obligations under international law.

There must be a way for people fleeing violence and persecution to find the safety and care that they need.

So why do people continue to seek asylum in the US?

Because they often have no other choice.

Keywords:
Mexico, refugees riding on train, Central America migration, climbing on trains, forced separation, asylum, train tracks, rafts, violence, USA, fleeing violence, fleeing to United States, Honduras, rape, international law