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Andrés Celis, UNHCR resident representative in Costa Rica, explains what leads a woman to seek asylum or refuge in the countries that make up Central America in this interview.
What are the challenges faced by these women asylum seekers in Central American countries?
The challenge these women face is the triple inequality that has as its starting point inequality in the countries of origin, inequality and the exacerbated impact of that inequality on the route, and that inequality in the place of arrival and integration. Because the socioeconomic conditions of the countries in the region are relatively similar.
What reasons lead these women to seek asylum or refuge?
In terms of causes of expulsion, it depends on the dynamics of each country, but in general there is a global problem that is exacerbated in Latin America, such as domestic violence, that is, the problem of these relationships, of an inequality that has no justification whatsoever in the relationship between the couple. It is something that can be seen in all places and in some societies.
In some states there is no response capacity. This inability to respond generates, the only option, it is not feasible to live in this place. It is in some facts of violence, in some realities of violence, the impact generated by the way organized crime relates to women, especially girls and adolescents.
Logics of marked bodies, logics of physical aggression, of femicide for not accepting the impositions that are established. Mothers seek protection for their daughters and sons from the forced involvement of these organizations.
Interviewer: Álvaro G. de Pablo, Communications Associate at The World Bank