Choluteca, Honduras.
The authorities of Honduras reported on Wednesday the detention of 18 Cuban immigrants, including two minors, who allegedly planned to move from the Central American country to U.S illegal.
The arrest was registered on Tuesday at the post of El Guasaule, department of Choluteca, the border between Honduras and Nicaragua, after a routine police check, the Honduran National Police said in a press release.
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He added that they were all needed because they entered Honduran territory in an ‘irregular way’. Therefore, they are being held in an office of the National Migration Institute in Choluteca, where authorities will decide whether to grant them a permit to cross the border. national territory or return them to your country of origin.
The Caribbeans – nine women, seven men and two minors – were detained by agents from the border, prevention and special forces while walking in the 7 de Mayo neighborhood of El Triunfo municipality, near Guasaule, he said.
Honduran police have in recent days stepped up “control and surveillance” operations at the border with Nicaragua to prevent irregular entry of foreigners into the country and prevent contamination from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In recent decades, the Central American country has become a transit point for migrants, especially Cubans and Africans, who traverse the Central American countries to reach the United States, whose authorities in recent years have security at the border with Mexico strengthens.
Honduras signed an agreement with the United States in September 2019 to stop irregular migration from Central American countries.
According to the cooperation agreement released last May by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the governments of Honduras and the United States have agreed to send asylum seekers to the Central American country to the US authorities.
The document joins two similar cooperation agreements on asylum issues reached with Guatemala on July 26, 2019 and El Salvador on September 20, respectively, last year.
UNHCR WILL HELP STRENGTHEN THE ASYLUM SYSTEM
The National Institute for Migration (INM) of Honduras and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a partnership agreement for the “Strengthening the Asylum System” project in the country the day before.
The agreement was signed by the director of the INM, Carolina Menjívar, and Acnur’s representative in Honduras, Andrés Celis.
The agreement allows the INM to promote the participation of local governments, state and private entities that strengthen the asylum system.
“This agreement gives us the power to respond better to asylum seekers. We can do things better, work and make a difference,” emphasizes Menjívar.
The official thanked UNHCR for its support and commitment, and assured that Honduras has “a big task,” but together with the UN refugee agency, “we will achieve it.”
The UNHCR representative stressed the importance of the agreement because “the world is still moving even with the pandemic, it’s a complicated fact between opening the door or keeping the house safe and here we have found the will,” the commitment of the Honduran authorities and the INM ”. EFE