Migrants deterred by Trump's border crackdown wait for UN help to return home
DANLI, Honduras - 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. REUTERS
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Straits Times
11 minutes ago
- Straits Times
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Those reports also show that Hamas has diverted up to 25% of aid supplies to its fighters or sold them to civilians, the Israeli military said, adding that GHF has ended the militants' control of aid by distributing it directly to civilians. Hamas denies the allegations. A Hamas security official said that Israel has killed more than 800 Hamas-affiliated police and security guards trying to protect aid vehicles and convoy routes. Their missions were coordinated with the U.N. Reuters could not independently verify the claims by Hamas and Israel, which has not made public proof that the militants have systematically stolen aid. GHF also accuses Hamas of massive aid theft in defending its distribution model. The U.N. and other groups have rejected calls by GHF, Israel and the U.S. to cooperate with the foundation, saying it violates international humanitarian principles of neutrality. In response to a request for comment, GHF referred Reuters to a July 2 Washington Post article that quoted an unidentified Gazan and anonymous Israeli officials as saying Hamas profited from the sales and taxing of pilfered humanitarian aid. AID GROUPS REQUIRED TO REPORT LOSSES The 156 reports of theft or losses of supplies reviewed by BHA were filed by U.N. agencies and other humanitarian groups working in Gaza as a condition of receiving U.S. aid funds. The second source familiar with the matter said that after receiving reports of U.S.-funded aid thefts or losses, USAID staff followed up with partner organizations to try to determine if there was Hamas involvement. Those organizations also would "redirect or pause" aid distributions if they learned that Hamas was in the vicinity, the source said. Aid organizations working in Gaza also are required to vet their personnel, sub-contractors and suppliers for ties to extremist groups before receiving U.S. funds, a condition that the State Department waived in approving $30 million for GHF last month. The slide presentation noted that USAID partners tended to over-report aid diversion and theft by groups sanctioned or designated by the U.S. as foreign terrorist organizations - such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad - because they want to avoid losing U.S. funding. Of the 156 incidents of loss or theft reported, 63 were attributed to unknown perpetrators, 35 to armed actors, 25 to unarmed people, 11 directly to Israeli military action, 11 to corrupt subcontractors, five to aid group personnel 'engaging in corrupt activities,' and six to 'others," a category that accounted for 'commodities stolen in unknown circumstances,' according to the slide presentation. 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Business Times
an hour ago
- Business Times
Thai-Cambodia military exchanges could lead to war, Acting Thai PM says
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AsiaOne
2 hours ago
- AsiaOne
Thailand, Cambodia exchange heavy artillery fire as fighting rages for second day, Asia News
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