Against Their Will, Refugees Flee Central America

Kirk Semple, New York Times, Nov. 12, 2016 - "[Interviews with migrants and their advocates suggest that families are fleeing — sometimes in groups of as many as 15 people — because they have no alternative. Gangs in certain communities in the Northern Triangle have become so merciless, and their control so widespread, that a family is often left with a stark choice: Comply, flee or die. “Today the violence is widespread, and because it’s widespread, it’s affecting the whole family,” said Diego Lorente, the director of the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula. Almost all of the migrants said they had once had no intention of ever leaving their countries. Alberto said he had a thriving business breeding livestock and dogs. His wife ran a food stand. Their youngest children were on track to attend college, he said. They were active members of their church. ... Most said they had left their homes with no understanding, or even awareness, of asylum protections in other countries, only a determination to find a safer place to live."