Category: Honduras

Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world. Therefore, violence and many more hardships specifically poverty, refugees flee to seek safety and a better life. One of the main types of violence is fighting between gangs. Refugees are sent back to their country after an unsuccessful trip to another country. One of the main places refugees from Honduras flee is the US. As a result, refugees are fleeing Honduras and have nowhere to go that will keep them safe.

About the Nation

Honduras is located in the continent of North America with the North Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea bordering it. Honduras doesn’t have four seasons, it only has two, the rainy and the dry season with the land mostly mountainous. The president of Honduras is Juan Orlando Hernandez, he was elected by popular vote in 2013, and then got reelected in 2018. He is also the head of the state government. There are 9,182,766 people in Honduras as of July, 2018. Some main ethnic groups are Mestizo, Mixed Amerindian, and European. The main languages spoken in Honduras are Spanish and English. Christianity is the official religion in Honduras. In Honduras men and women’s rights aren’t exactly equal. For example, boys in Honduras receive more jobs and job opportunities than girls, including refugees.

Conflicts and Challenges

Refugees in Honduras have increased by 45,000 people from 2011 to 2018. They are fleeing because of poverty, violence, and economic problems such as the election last November that many people disputed. Some disputed the election last November because Juan Orlando Hernandez got reelected. A lot of people in Honduras got very injured, and even killed for protesting against Hernandez being president. He was also named co-conspirator for a huge drug trafficking case. This and the civil war were events that led to the refugee crisis in Honduras.

The civil war was an event that led up to the refugee crisis in Honduras. During the refugee crisis, children were fleeing from Honduras alone, and later becoming the world’s most vulnerable refugees. But this isn’t a good thing, they are vulnerable because they have been through terrible hardships such as violence and crimes that include gangs. Not only have they been through all of this, but they have been through this alone. There are agency’s trying to help this crisis and the people in it, but their needs keep on growing. People in this refugee crisis have faced hunger, thirst, violence etc. Some ways that people have tried to help these refugees are by building camps, some are in the middle of the desert. Other camps are restricted and only accept refugees of a certain religion, and some have to have an ID, which is hard to get when you are a refugee.

Refugee Experience

Refugees that flee Honduras go to places such as the US and New York. To do this they travel by foot, boat, and sometimes by car, bus and train. Refugees risk their lives to leave Honduras for a number of reasons, one being an opinion about their country, such as there is gang violence and a ton of death. Therefore, many people die, either their boat sunk, they got too tired and thirsty, or just got very injured. Around 700 migrants leave Honduras a year. In Honduras, around 9 million people live in poverty. A reason for this, is that Honduras is one of the poorest countries in Latin America. Only 50 police officers watch over 189 neighborhoods.

In Honduras, no one returns there after leaving. But, no one has the chance to return, this doesn’t mean that people don’t want to. At least 500 people want to return to Honduras after leaving. Some people want to return to Honduras because they are disappointed in the caravan members and how they don’t follow the rules. The caravan started with 160 members, but then quickly added up to over 500. In 2018, 22,572 people have fled and applied for asylum in other countries. Of the 7,000 people that have traveled with the caravan, 2,300 are kids, or are under 18. After fleeing Honduras, 43% do not continue to live with their families. The UNICEF tries to help children refugees go to school, and helps people find an alternative living situation.

Moving Forward

People in Honduras enjoy social and religious freedom. Their current freedom rating is 4/7. They gained independence on September 15, 2018. But for their public transportation they have taxis and planes. The taxis stake people around Honduras’s cities, while the planes take them to different states, or countries that could otherwise be a long drive. Honduras is still in progress of being fulfilled, but thanks to agencies and other countries similar to the US, Honduras is working hard. An example of how the US helps is by addressing regional challenges that they have. In addition, the US foreign assistance takes a huge role in helping and supporting Hondurans’ safety. Also, 15% of Hondurans currently live in the US.

Conclusion

Refugees that are fleeing Honduras don’t have many safe places to go. Refugees that flee Honduras are fleeing because of violence and poverty. But once people leave Honduras, no one has a chance to return. Currently, people in Honduras enjoy social and religious freedom, but it is still in progress of restoring peoples’ freedom and independence rate. Perhaps if Hondurans improve their independence and freedom rate, fewer refugees will flee.

Works Cited

1. Alfredo Corchado. “Central American Migrants Face Grueling Journey North”. The Dallas Morning News, http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/migrantroute/.
2. “Asylum Applications and Refugees from Honduras”. World Data, https://www.worlddata.info/america/honduras/asylum.php.
3. “DHS Signs Deal to Send Asylum-Seekers from Honduras to Maine”. NPR, 16 Sept 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/09/30/765834542/dhs-signs-deal-to-send-asylum-seekers-from-s-border-to-honduras.
4. “Foreign Assistance in Honduras.” Foreign Assistance, https://www.foreignassistance.gov/explore/country/Honduras.
5. “Freedom in the World 2018”. Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/honduras.
6. “Honduras Holidays and Festivals”. IExplore. https://www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/central-and-south-america/honduras/festivs-and-events.
7. “Honduras Population 2019”. World population review, 27 Aug 2019, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/honduras-population/.
8. Mirrof, Nick. “U.S. Announces Asylum Deal with Honduras, Could Send Violence to One of the World’s Most Violent Nations”. The Washington Post, 25 Sept. 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/us-announces-asylum-deal-with-honduras-could-send-migrants-to-one-of-worlds-most-violent-nations/2019/09/25/cca94a86-dfb6-11e9-8fd3-d943b4ed57e0_story.html.
9. Moncada, J. Roberto. “Honduras”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Oct. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/place/Honduras/Plant-and-animal-life.
10. Oyewole, Kemi. “Spotlight on Honduras”. Education Policy And Data Center, 12 Jun. 2019, https://www.epdc.org/epdc-data-points/epdc-spotlight-honduras.
11. “U.S. Relations with Honduras.” U.S. Department of state, 8 Feb 2019, https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-honduras/.
12. “World Factbook”. Central Intelligence Agency, 26 Oct. 2019, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/ho.html.

Cultures can be described as “societies that have commonly accepted laws, laws that are in some respects implicit. These are social norms and rules that are shared among the members of society” (‘Kinship: An Introduction’). Fundamentally, a culture follows a set of guidelines that is agreed amongst most of the members. In contrast, society provides the structure to organize and compromise those individuals that share the same beliefs and customs. Moreover, there are different societies that have different cultures; the culture embodies the beliefs of the group, whereas society serves as the representation of the people who share the set of beliefs. Yet, in some circumstances individuals in those cultures and societies present different views and behaviors about the agreed social norms, beliefs and practices. In order to understand how a person can be shaped by the culture and society they have grown up in I interviewed two individuals who have been raised in the same culture and society, but have taken different paths for their future.

To start off, I would like to briefly introduce the Honduran culture and society. Honduras is a non-modernized third world country, individuals can be categorized as a mixture of fearful and resentful people with the neighboring territories. Apart from what is commonly expressed in the news (drug traffic, dangerous, poverty, authority problems) it can also be categorized as a tourist destination, and it is why individuals are categorized as welcoming, they are proud Hondurans. People that visit Honduras say that Hondurans have a deep sense of national identity. Apart from their deep connection with their country Honduran culture is family-oriented. Their kin groups often make an effort to keep in touch with their extended family. Their belief system, their education, and overall influences are acquired from family, so it can be believed that it is the most important factor in their life. Their kinship is a sign of respect by knowing where they come from, they are able to relate and know where the individual fits in the whole structure and therefore understand the culture and society.

As mentioned before, in order to understand how a person’s life can be shaped by culture and society, I decided to interview two individuals who have been born and raised in Honduras but have been exposed to different experiences across their life. The first individual is 20 years old, born and raised in Honduras, but who know currently lives in Spain. She expresses how she feels her personality is not shaped by her culture, but definitely has been influenced by the society in which she used to live in. She mentioned how when she was little and up to this date, she has been familiar with traveling to new places and being exposed to their different cultures. She found herself often traveling and comparing the different views each society had and found that they all clashed. She believes that her personality is not shaped by the Honduran culture, rather than by her kin-family, the values shared, which do not always match the values Honduras has. She expressed how she believes that Honduran culture is conservative. Honduras does not like to mix with other nationalities, they are welcoming, but not often do you find Honduran forming relations with someone from ‘outside’. “Kinship and marriage are about the basic facts of life. Man is an animal, but he puts the basic facts of life to work for himself in ways that no other animal does or can” (Fox, 1996 [1967]: 27). In a way, the Honduran culture can be identified as individuals who put their wellbeing and their ‘family’ (blood connections) at firsthand. To a certain degree, she believes that Hondurans can be egocentric when it comes to the benefits each person as an individual can have over others. She concluded how she believes Hondurans lack personhood. As human beings we have our own natural characteristics, we bring rage anger, sadness. Personality, on the other hand, is fabricated. It has been built up based on experience from people in the surroundings. She discussed how being alive is not the same as being a human being. Only a human being is able to have control over their emotions. What she meant was Hondurans are human beings with emotions, they control their emotions, but they do not regard their personality. She believes Hondurans do not show their own unique self because they worry too much about their relations with others. The interviewee discussed in depth how being a Honduran has enabled her to focus more on herself and be able to differentiate from others in her society.

On another note, as expected, the second individual was far more centered on the culture Honduras offers rather than the individual self (personhood) and the kinship shared. The second interviewee is a Honduran who is also 20 years old, but who currently lives in Honduras. She was asked the same set of questions but expressed more about the touristic aspect in Honduras (culture). She talked about agriculture, the beaches, the culinary, among other factors that build up the culture in Honduras. She expressed how those factors shape the person she has grown up to be. She shared optimistic comments on the Honduran culture because she has not lived other experiences to which she can compare them to. In general, she described her role in the country rather than how playing the role she plays has influenced the individual she has turned out to be.

Discussed before, Honduran kinship is far more than just, “the bond of blood or marriage which binds people together in a group” (Fisher, 1967). In Honduras kinship defines the relationship that individuals will have among the whole society. Depending on your connections and your relationships with individuals is that each person will be respected and valued among others. Kinship will define your education, your work experience, and to extent some people may say it can define your overall life success. On another hand, personhood in Honduran society can be viewed in different ways. Humans are not acknowledged as being part of society (human beings), in other words, ‘accepted’, if they are not agreeing with the other members in society. People do not think of themselves as individuals of the same society if they do not receive the acceptance by the other members. That is why most people view Honduran society as judgmental, and extremely conservative. Last, but not least, when it comes to belief systems and the common values Hondurans share, the majority of Hondurans feel identified as Catholics, which has never been questioned nor challenged by the society, and has been cultivated in their culture. Although there are multiple influences that individuals in Honduras undergo due to the culture and society they live in, there is no doubt Honduras offers a well-rounded and balanced sense of belonging to each individual. For the most part, a Honduran can be able to find itself without the influences of society and culture.