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Two caravans of migrants left Honduras a few hours ago. One, 1,000 people, just before midnight Monday, the other 200 people in the early morning (Tuesday). As in previous months, hundreds of people had come together on social networks to try to escape the dangers that await them on the road. A road that should take them first to Guatemala, then to Mexico and finally to the United States. RFI attended their departure from the San Pedro Sula bus station in the north of the country.
With our special correspondent in Honduras , Marie Normand
The first left at night in the pouring rain. The second group, a few hours later in the morning. RFI had met them at this bus station in San Pedro Sula just before their departure. There are many young men between the ages of 15 and 25 who are looking for a job. But also families and many single women with children, who are fleeing poverty and violence.
Why are they leaving? #Honduras @RFI
1) the lack of opportunities. No jobs, especially for over 30s. Factories that close.
2) the violence and racketeering of gangs, criminal gangs, which are the law especially in big cities like SanPedroSula
San Pedro Sula is one of the cities with the highest crime rate in the world. A 24-year-old woman, whose husband was killed last week, says she has no other option. To leave is the opportunity of a better life for his girls of 13 and 9 years, come with her.
Long weeks of walking are waiting for them. Yet at their feet, city shoes. A little backpack in which they threw some clothes, a little food, enough to hold a few days at most. We did not see an NGO accompanying them. Many of these migrants rely on the solidarity of the inhabitants in the cities they will cross. First goal: to reach the Guatemalan border in three days.
Video of Angelica Perez from Spanish @RFI @RFI_Espanol #Honduras #CaravanaMigrante pic.twitter.com/Y6fhOIgIj8
Marie Normand (@normandmarie) January 15, 2019