Central American Refugees Research Articles

Legal Perspectives on U.S. Jurisprudence Regarding Central American Refugee Claims

In the past seven years, thousands of Central American refugees have fled to the United States in search of sanctuary from the terror and brutality in their homelands. Unfortunately, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which reviews asylum applications, characterizes these refugees as economic migrants and consistently denies their claims for protection. As a result, less than 4% of the Salvadoran and less than 1% of the Guatemala applications for asylum in the United States are accepted. The General Accounting Office found that although refugees from four selected countries allege similar experiences of actual persecution (arrest and subsequent torture), only 4% of the Salvadoran applications were granted as compared to 80% of the Polish and 64% of the Iranian applications.

This Ground is Holy: Sanctuary and Central American Refugees. By Ignatius Bau. New York: Paulist, 1985. ix + 288 pages. $9.95 (paper).

This Ground is Holy: Sanctuary and Central American Refugees. By Ignatius Bau. New York: Paulist, 1985. ix + 288 pages. $9.95 (paper).

Forging Peace: The Challenge of Central America

There are now 3 million Central American refugees, an entrenched civil war in El Salvador, a right wing contra army fighting the Sandinista government, billions of dollars lost by the area in direct war-damage and lost production, and apparently no end in sight to the violence, tensions, or poverty. The foreign policies of the Reagan Administration, based on a concept of national security threatened by Russia in America's backyard, are thought to have been largely responsible for this situation. In this book the author sets out democratic alternatives to current US policy, built on demilitarization and negotiation, and leading to renewed economic growth and more socially equitable patterns of development. A prerequisite of this change is peace in Central America which, he argues, can only be brought about if American motives of self-interest are, at the very least, revised.

This Ground is Holy: Church Sanctuary and Central American Refugees.

This Ground is Holy: Church Sanctuary and Central American Refugees.

Central American Refugees: Resettlement Needs and Solutions

Central American Refugees: Resettlement Needs and Solutions

Trials and Errors: The Experience of Central American Refugees in Montreal

This article is based on the findings of a 1983-84 study of 40 Salvadorean and 35 Guatemalan exiles presently residing in Montreal. Besides culture shock and the cold, the biggest immediate problem faced by informants was coping with a plunge in economic status and living in a situation of poverty (by Canadian standards). Central Americans·were happy ta have escaped repression at home, but, once here, it was extremely difficult for most of them to find work. Those who did enter the labour force did mostly menial jobs, working as housekeepers, babysitters, cleaners, labourers or restaurant and factory workers. Since the majority of those interviewed came from the small, middle class portion of the Central American population, their lives here began at a much lower standard of living than they had enjoyed at home, at least before war and repression eroded their position.

Social Work in the Sanctuary Movement for Central American Refugees

Journal Article Social Work in the Sanctuary Movement for Central American Refugees Get access Social Work, Volume 30, Issue 1, January-February 1985, Pages 74–76, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/30.1.74 Published: 01 January 1985

The Politics of Asylum: Mexico and the Central American Refugees

The violence in Central America has displaced an unprecedented number of people in the area. While the majority of the approximately two million displaced individuals remain within their native countries, hundreds of thousands have fled to neighboring countries and to the U.S. where they create serious economic and political problems for the host governments. This article explores Mexico's policies toward the estimated 250,000 Central Americans who are seeking protection from the violence of their homelands.There is considerable controversy over whether these individuals are political refugees. The 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees defines refugees as those individuals who “due to a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion have left their country of origin.” The convention's emphasis on individuals singled out for political persecution would seem to disqualify many of the Central Americans fleeing generalized conditions of violence.

Refugio El Canada: Two U.S. Projects Aid Central American Refugees


 
 
 Two projects were recently est- ablished in the United States to assist Central American refugees who want to resettle in Canada. These individuals are unable to obtain refugee status in the Unit- ed States which does not recog- nize them as political refugees.