Mara Erickson

Paper #2
Honduras

There are thousands of migrants traveling in caravans from Honduras to the United
States border with Mexico. It is a complex situation but there a couple main reasons why
women are traveling to the border. The recent storms that hit Honduras have damaged over
85,000 houses which included 6,000 homes destroyed (Roald). Flooding has also caused
massive food shortages and insecurities, driving women and their children to flee (Roald).
Poverty has been increasing as well, especially due to Covid-19 and restrictions tightening.
Because of the restrictions, unemployment and poverty have increased and has caused more
women to flee Honduras (Roald). Women are also fleeing Honduras because of violence.
Criminal violence has prevented some humanitarian help and relief to the country which is a
roadblock to a type of solution. Violence towards women is a problem in Honduras and gives
them a major reason to flee (Roald). Criminal organizations like to target women because they
are seen as easier targets to manipulate and abuse.
Once these main issues have driven women and their families away, the problems
continue. The problem with the journey of these caravans of Honduran women is that the
Central American countries, United States, and Mexico have agreements to not let these
caravans pass through because of the pandemic. If these Hondurans even make it to Mexico or
the United States border, they will get sent back to Honduras (Palencia).
The situation in Honduras is complicated. There is no easy solution, Honduras has
violence which makes it hard to get humanitarian help. Covid-19 is preventing the United States
and Mexico from giving asylum to the women fleeing Honduras. A possible solution is to create
a system where the United States, Mexico, and the Central American countries help secure
these women and Hondurans fleeing the country in a safe location separated from the
populations of these countries. The important part of this plan is that they are separated,
because the largest issue about traveling to the US and Mexico is COVID-19 related. If these
people are separated, quarantined and then vaccinated, the issue of COVID-19 spreading has
less of an argument for these countries to kick the Honduran refugees out. Once this system
has been established, these refugees should be given asylum while either waiting to go back
once things improve with outside humanitarian help or the option to try to become a
permanent citizen of the United States or one of the other countries. This theory is relatively
expensive, since it involves creating living spaces for quarantine measures for the refugees.
However, there is a labor shortage going on in the United States, and I feel like once these
refugees have quarantined and gotten vaccinated, they could help boost the economy and fill in
the labor gaps.
Overall, the situation is increasing in intensity as COVID-19 continues and the increasing
number of storms and violence that impacts Honduras. Creating a safe place for women and
children to quarantine would help the situation.
 Works Cited:

Palencia, Gustavo. “Migrant Caravan Will Not Be Allowed to Pass, Says U.S ...” US News and
World Report, 8 Jan. 2021, https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2021-01-
08/migrant-caravan-will-not-be-allowed-to-pass-says-us-border-official.

Roald Høvring Published 20. Jan 2021. “9 Reasons Why Hondurans Are Forming Caravans and
Leaving Their Co...” NRC, https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2021/nine-reasons-why-
hondurans-are-forming-caravans-and-leaving-their-country/.