Migrants deterred by Trump's border crackdown wait for UN help to return home
DANLI, Honduras (Reuters) - Migrants deterred by U.S. President Donald Trump's border crackdown are making their way back to their home countries as crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border continue to fall.
In the Honduran town of Danli, near the border with Nicaragua, dozens of migrants are waiting for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency, to fly them back to Venezuela and other countries.
Betzabeth Bencomo said that after she gave up on her hopes of entering the United States and left Mexico, she thought she'd have to travel once again across the lawless jungle that separates Colombia and Panama in order to reach her native Venezuela. But upon arriving in Honduras, she learned that the IOM was offering repatriation flights for migrants looking to return home.
"We've been waiting for two and a half months," she said. "God willing, soon we will be home."
Venessa Contreras, also from Venezuela, feels safer now that she knows she will be able to fly home - even if she has to wait. She said that the journey home has gotten even more deadly since Panama took steps to block off parts of the jungle, pushing some migrants to resort to traveling by sea on small boats that occasionally capsize on the reverse migration route.
Interest in IOM's assisted voluntary return program has soared since Trump's crackdown began.
In January and February, the agency received 2,862 requests for the program, more than triple the requests logged during the same period last year.
(Reporting by Hugo Monnet in Danli, Honduras, writing by Laura Gottesdiener, editing by Sandra Maler)
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