El Salvador: Festival highlights risks for migrants

Students at the Central American University (UCA) in El Salvador, using coloured sawdust to depict images of human rights and justice [Sarah Smith-Pearse]

Thousands gather for the annual Festival of Migration to highlight the dangers faced by migrants - hosted by The University of Central America (UCA) with support from CAFOD

The event, held in El Salvador’s capital San Salvador, attracts thousands of students each year and highlights the dangers and discrimination faced by migrants from all over Central America as they try to build better lives away from their original communities.

CAFOD spokesperson Maria Marshall says: “For families in El Salvador and across Central America, migration is undoubtedly seen as a lifeline and an opportunity to move forwards, but the experience itself can be painful.

“CAFOD is proud to support this festival and the University in their work with vulnerable people who are doing their best to build a better future for themselves and the families they leave behind.

"Through these partners we are ensuring that migrants receive practical support and advice and that their rights are being defended at national level.”

At least one in five Salvadorans live as migrants in other countries, mainly the USA, and work long hours to send money home for housing, education and other basic needs.

The amount of money migrants send home to Central America is increasing steadily and now represents 17% of the total remittances received by Latin America and the Caribbean.

Remittances play a significant role in the Salvadoran economy, being six times more than the total received in direct foreign investment.

The stories of those who leave El Salvador to work abroad are filled with homesickness, hardship and danger.

One Salvadoran migrant who now works in the USA, and did not want to be named, said: “I used to work as a farmer, planting corn and selling it. Where we live we work to survive and sometimes you can work hard all day and not earn anything.”

He and many others endured a dangerous and gruelling journey to the USA, lasting several weeks, and many were indebted to traffickers by the time they arrived.

Once there, they faced a rigorous process to get a work permit and had to take two or even three jobs, just to cover their living costs.

Nearly all of the Salvadorans interviewed by UCA have experienced discrimination in their host country, especially non-English speakers. But many feel it would not be feasible to return home due to financial considerations

A mother of one of the young women who migrated said: “If my daughter did not send us remittances we would die of hunger.”

During the week-long Festival of Migration from September 7-12, there are workshops, seminars, art competitions and a final procession following the Way of the Cross.

Media: For further information contact CAFOD media officer Pascale Palmer ppalmer@cafod.org.uk

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