Refugee And Asylum Issues In Inter American Relations PDF Download

This paper examines the problem of asylum for the current increasing numbers of refugees in Central America. The author begins with an overview of the exodus of refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. She then studies the responses of receiving countries, and international assistance. She notes that, while some Salvadorians, Guatemalans and Nicaraguans are in UNHCR refugee camps, only a small portion of the rest of them has been recognized as refugees by the host countries. Hence, she maintains, many refugees are living as illegal entrants in precarious conditions. Also noted is the inability of the UNHCR, and other organizations operating in Central America and Mexico, to meet the needs of the growing refugee population whose most urgent problem has been found to be one of protection from violence and strife. The author criticizes the response of most of the receiving countries to the influxes, and examines the contentious issue regarding the eligibility of Salvadorians for refugee status in the United States. She describes the US asylum policy as discriminatory and punitive, and argues that the most serious problem for all the refugees, who are mostly old people, women and children, is protection from refoulement and physical attacks. The author recommends that the United States recognize that is has become a country of first asylum; that the interdiction of Haitian boats and the detention of Haitian asylum seekers in the United States be terminated; that the Salvadorians in the United States be granted voluntary departure status; and, that the US government initiate talks with Cuban officials so that any future exodus could be dealt with more effectively. In concluding, the author points out that the present refugee flows will continue until there is peace in Central America.