The migrants were part of a caravan that left Honduras this Saturday made up of almost 800 people in two groups.
Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
The Government of Guatemala assured this Saturday that 15 members of the security forces were injured when detaining approximately 300 migrants who wanted to enter their territory irregularly from Honduras.
The migrants were part of a caravan that left Honduras this Saturday made up of almost 800 people in two groups, seeking to reach the United States to have better living conditions.
The Government of Guatemala detailed in a press conference on Saturday night that it was able to prevent the advance of the 300 migrants gathered in the afternoon, as well as another large group that had been returned to Honduras at the stroke of noon.
The migrants tried unsuccessfully to enter Guatemala through the El Corinto border, located about 300 kilometers northeast of Guatemala City, in the department of Izabal.
In a joint press conference, the National Civil Police and the Guatemalan Army assured that 15 of their members were injured when detaining the 300 migrants, mostly Hondurans and Nicaraguans, who managed to sneak a few kilometers into local territory.
The director general of the National Civil Police, Héctor Hernández, explained that at the conference, 7 agents from his entity were injured, as were 8 soldiers from the Guatemalan Army.
Most of the injuries are not serious and were perpetrated with sticks and stones by the migrants, according to the Guatemalan authorities.
“A call is made (to migrants) to desist from entering the territory irregularly,” said Army spokesman Rubén Téllez.
FROM SAN PEDRO SULA
This Saturday’s is the first caravan of migrants from the region in 2022 and it left from San Pedro Sula, in northern Honduras, in search of a job to survive, according to some people before their departure.
“We are leaving due to lack of employment, we are going to look for a better future,” said Miguel Domínguez, a commercial expert, originally from Taulabé, department of Comayagua, in the central region of Honduras.
The first migrant caravan of this type left Honduras in October 2018 for the Agua Caliente border point, south of El Corinto.
On January 6, the Guatemalan government established various “protocols” after hearing information about the possible departure of a caravan from Honduras on January 15.
The established protocols include “checkpoints on the migratory route” at “strategic points” to detect those who try to enter Guatemala without the requirements required by law.
The last massive migrant caravan had been registered in January 2021 with the participation of around 9,000 Hondurans, who were blocked and dissolved at the Guatemalan border by local security forces.
However, some 3,000 Hondurans did manage to advance through Guatemala and slipped into Mexico in small groups, with the aim of reaching the United States in search of the “American dream.”
The blockade in 2021 carried out by the Guatemalan security forces was a decision of the Government headed by Alejandro Giammattei, so as not to let those who lacked identity documents and a negative test of covid-19 advance.
The decision is part of the migration policy ordered by Giammattei, since in 2018 and 2019 the migrant caravans were able to advance smoothly through Guatemalan territory.
Every year more than 500,000 Guatemalans, Hondurans and Salvadorans try to emigrate irregularly to the United States to seek better living conditions, away from poverty and violence in the region.
“If they meet the migratory and health requirements, they will be able to enter Guatemalan territory,” said the Guatemalan Migration Institute, referring to identity documents, a negative covid-19 test, and complete proof of vaccination.
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eldiariony.com
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.