Supporting Child Refugees and Migrants

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your support of children on the move globally. Due to your generosity, UNICEF helped the most vulnerable women, children and adolescents, to improve their access to basic services and adequate integration into host countries around the world.

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are hosting at least 2.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees out of the three million Venezuelans migrating worldwide. UNICEF estimates that over 1.1 million children in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Panama, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago need assistance. As a result of your gift, UNICEF was able to implement programs such as those highlighted below:

• In Colombia, over 13,000 people gained improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services in schools, migrant centers and border-crossing sites;
• In Brazil, UNICEF supported the establishment of 11 child-friendly spaces and reached over 4,200 children with education services;
• UNICEF advocacy efforts in Ecuador were fundamental to the signing and implementation of a protocol for the protection of uprooted children, including those arriving from Venezuela;
• In Guyana, UNICEF delivered assistance to 110 migrant and host families in remote indigenous communities;
• In Peru, UNICEF installed a child-friendly space that reached over 6,000 children with psychosocial support; and
• In Trinidad and Tobago, UNICEF supported the increased coverage for a temporary learning center reaching 170 migrant children.

We appreciate your continued support of children and their families who have been forced from their homes around the world. We will continue to provide updates regarding the impact your support is making and the positive change you have sparked.

Sincerely,

Whitney Simon

Dear Friend,

Fleeing stifling poverty, extreme violence and intimidation, Central American children make the difficult decision to leave home in search of safety and a better life. Along the way, they risk being kidnapped, trafficked, raped or killed. Most come from the countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

There is no sign this trend is letting up, as UNICEF vividly details in a report, Uprooted in Central America and Mexico.

“Millions of children in the region are victims of poverty, indifference, violence, forced migration and the fear of deportation," said María Cristina Perceval, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. "In many cases, children who are sent back to their countries have no home to return to, end up deep in debt or are targeted by gangs. Being returned to impossible situations makes it more likely they will migrate again."

The facts are grim.

Between 2016 and mid-2018, 68,409 migrant children were detained in Mexico, 91 percent of whom were deported to Central America. Some 96,216 migrants from northern Central America, including 24,189 women and children, were returned from Mexico and the U.S. between January and June 2018. More than 90 percent were deported from Mexico.

Even if they reach the U.S., these children confront new risks. Children traveling with a parent risk swift deportation or months of detention. Unaccompanied children apprehended in the U.S. are guaranteed an immigration court hearing, but are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney.

To help alleviate the crisis, UNICEF works with governments in Central America and Mexico to try to address these causes. Through various programs, UNICEF works to strengthen services that reduce the vulnerability of children to violence, crime and other threats, and supports programs for education and health, with a special focus on the most affected and vulnerable communities.

UNICEF also advocates for the protection of children's rights throughout their journey, and for governments to assist returnee children.

Thank you for your contribution and putting children first.