(Danli, Honduras) While the world has eyes only for Ukraine, several other hot spots are vying for a place on the front pages of mainstream media or on the tables of international diplomacy.
One such hotspot is currently in Central America. If in 2018 the region attracted some attention with the caravans of migrants in Honduras, Central America is now one of the largest migratory zones on the planet. Indeed, the migratory flow from this region greatly exceeds the regional departures generated in particular by the violence and extortion of the Maras and other armed gangs in the area.
Today, in certain corridors, such as that of Trojes in Honduras for example, more than 1,500 migrants per day are counted.
While Haitian, Venezuelan and Ecuadorian migrants are widely represented, more than 70 nationalities migrate today through the corridors of Central America. Yes, migrants from everywhere, from across the oceans, from Afghanistan, and from Africa to China, find themselves in these travel corridors. As of this writing, there are more than one million active migrants in the Central America region alone.
The migratory vectors are very complex and far from unidirectional. It is therefore a dark and tortuous journey faced by migrants who aspire – and hope to arrive – at a better life and especially to cross the border of the United States and perhaps eventually that of Canada. But nationalities do not matter, in this dramatic and very real game of snakes and ladders, each person is above all a story of uprooting, victim of extortion, rape and aggression of any form. Arrived in Central America, they are dehydrated, having passed for the most part by the region of Darién, this vast jungle of Panama which often takes six days to cross on foot. Those who do not reach the end are abandoned along the way. Women, young children and vulnerable people who are ready to risk everything, knowing that in any case their lives were threatened where they come from.
On the spot, the mobilization of local organizations and civil societies is striking in helping migrants. Countries that don’t have enough for their own population are building temporary camps and shelters. Since these facilities are far from sufficient for the hundreds of thousands of people in transit, the local authorities are patiently awaiting support from the international community. But beyond humanitarian aid, the challenges are historic and will inevitably involve vast negotiations and regional agreements.
We might as well say that the crises will persist and that migrants will continue their quest for security, whether the countries of the North like it or not. Because migrants have rights, like you and me.
Why do these people migrate? There are as many reasons to migrate as there are migrants, but as long as street gangs terrorize Haiti, extremist groups control West Africa or economic crises destroy any possible future for Venezuelans or Ecuadorians, flight will remain a better option.
With known data from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Organization for Migrants (IOM), projections point to an increase in the number of migrants in coming years. The same observations of growth are being made this year at the border of the United States and Mexico with 2 million migrants, and at that of Canada where the number is expected to exceed 50,000.
This growth is also favored by the well-established informal trade on these migratory routes controlled by smugglers, as we observed this year at Roxham Road.
In short, Canada will still see as many asylum seekers at its border, if not more in the coming years.
Is Canada ready to face the migratory flow which is currently surging and of which it has not yet become aware? To ask the question, is to answer it.
After crossing the Darién jungle in Panama, no wall or measure will prevent these families from aspiring to a better future. The solutions are not simple, but we must certainly learn from the migration crisis in Europe before populist postures arise. The end of the Safe Third Country Agreement or a tightening of border control measures will not stop migrants who have often already crossed more than a dozen countries. Nor is it the immobility of the Liberals that will raise eyebrows among families who have left war zones. As well say that the Roxham path is more than 6000 km and extends to Panama.
Like the numb frog waiting in hot water watching its favorite reality shows, Canada is quietly falling asleep in its cauldron. Sterile debates on immigration thresholds between Quebec and Ottawa will soon become futile.