Report paints harrowing picture of Central America migration

[Judi Lynn]

Peter Orsi, Associated Press
Updated 10:09 pm, Thursday, May 11, 2017



MEXICO CITY (AP) — Migrants from Central America's violence-plagued Northern Triangle region endure harrowing abuses while trying to make their way through Mexico toward the United States, a report from an international medical group said Thursday.

Doctors Without Borders, or MSF for its initials in French, called the situation a "humanitarian crisis" that demands the U.S. and Mexican governments do more to process applications for asylum and humanitarian visas.

 
It said the study was based on surveys and medical data from the last two years and documents "a pattern of violent displacement, persecution, sexual violence and forced repatriation akin to the conditions found in the deadliest armed conflicts in the world today."

Among its findings:

— Almost 40 percent of those interviewed said they left home due to attacks, threats, extortion or attempts at forced recruitment by gangs in Central America. About 44 percent of the migrants had a relative who had died in the last two years due to violence, and that rose to 56 percent for those from El Salvador.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Report-paints-harrowing-picture-of-Central-11139331.php