Honduran immigration authorities 12,516 Cubans arrested since early 2022the largest number of immigrants in irregular transit Central American country.
In a report published on Twitter, the Honduras National Migration Institute (INM) reported that between January 1 and April 6, discovered 16,214 undocumented immigrants in its territory, from Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, Angola, Senegal, Nicaragua, Brazil and other nations.
The report also shows that only from March 14 to April 6, the Honduran immigration authorities managed to intercept 10,139 migrants, 6,975 of whom were Cuban citizens.
According to the data calculated by the INM up to the first week of the current month, the Danlí delegation (El Paraíso department) in the border area with Nicaragua hosted the most immigrants with a total of 8,001; Choluteca, 6,768; In Tegucigalpa, the capital, security forces discovered 670 people, in addition to arrests in other delegations in the country.
Between January and April Of the total immigrants detected, 1,064 were children under the age of 10, while in the 11–20 age range, 1,388 were arrested and 5,660 (the highest number) were between the ages of 21 and 30. That 55.05% of the migrants were men and 29.83% women.
Middle of March, Dozens of Cuban immigrants They were arrested in several anti-trafficking operations in this Central American country. On the 12th, in the broadest of these actions, 30 Cubans and four Ecuadorians -including a minor- were intercepted on a bus in the municipality of Juticalpa, Olancho Department.
Only three days later the prosecution They conducted two other operations, tracking down 241 Cuban migrants and nine suspected traffickers. who accompanied them on their journey through the region. The first group of 116 people traveled through the community of Danlí with six coyotes.
The second delegation consisted of 125 foreigners and three people involved in the illegal trade. This arrest also took place in Danlí, where dozens of Cubans were stranded that day after arriving from Nicaragua.
March 27th, Another 50 undocumented immigrants from the Caribbean island remained in the hands of the authorities. Two Honduran nationals were arrested by police in the area and charged with human trafficking.
On April 10, security forces discovered another 30 Cubans being transported on a bus by a suspected local coyote, according to a report by Spanish news agency EFE. The Cubans were arrested by agents from the National Police Department of Prevention at a checkpoint in the municipality of Alauca, also on the border with Nicaragua.
Concerned about the flow of undocumented foreigners into Honduran territory, Several civil society organizations called on the government to declare a humanitarian emergency. In particular, they referred to the people crossing the country’s eastern border who find themselves in extreme vulnerability.
The numbers and cases of Cubans transiting through Honduras and other Central American countries on their way to the United States are another example of the deep migratory crisis that has beset Cuba. In the first months of 2022, records were set in the number of immigrants registered by the authorities of Central American countries, Mexico and the United States.
Irregular entry of Cubans into the US across the border with Mexico peaked in March more than 32 thousand peopledouble the 16,550 who entered the United States last February.