TIJUANA, MEXICO. An estimated 2,300 people traveling with the "Migrant Caravan" have recently been relocated by authorities away from the U.S.-Mexico border and into the Barretal Refugee Camp. More people are being relocated into Barretal daily. The conditions at Barretal are unsafe, unsanitary and horrific for thousands of men, women and children. Migrants from Honduras and other countries are being denied entry into the United States to request asylum.
According to Amnesty International, "Under international law, anyone who arrives on US soil or seeks to enter US territory to claim asylum must be allowed to do so and have their case heard by the authorities. The USA cannot ban asylum seekers from certain countries, and it cannot return individuals to countries where their lives or safety may be at risk."
Amnesty further reports that "Many make the heart-breaking decision to leave [their homelands] instead of living in desperate fear of being the next victim of violence. Honduras, for example, has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America, and the world. Its murder rate is 800 percent higher than that of the United States. Other people leave after facing death threats for refusing to pay extortion to violent criminal networks known as maras that control territory and resources in countries such as El Salvador and Honduras. It is particularly difficult to escape the grip of maras in these small countries, which are each roughly the size of the states of New Jersey and of Arizona, respectively. A lack of protection from their governments, poverty and precarious living conditions are other factors driving people from their homes."
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