Labour migration in Guatemala

Guatemala is a country of great contrasts: According to the World Bank, 59.3 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2018. The Departamento El Quiché, in western Guatemala on the border with Mexico, is one of the poorest departamentos in Guatemala. About 75 percent of the population lives in poverty, about 42 percent in extreme poverty. The majority of them belong to the indigenous group of Guatemala, the Quiché. For many of them - like about 350 Guatemalans every day - migration to the USA is the only way out of poverty. In doing so, they expose themselves to numerous dangers.

AWO International, together with its partner organization ACCSS (Asociación Coordinadora Comunitaria de Servicios para la Salud - Association for grassroots health care), is therefore making a contribution to the growing problem of labour migration in the region in the Ixcán district of El Quiché. The partner organization works with potential migrants in transit and families affected by migration on the one hand and advocates alternatives to irregular migration on the other.

In order to inform potential migrants and those who are already on the migration route about safe migration, a local committee has been set up in the Playa Grande district consisting of youth and adult multipliers. Its aim is to raise awareness about the rights and dangers of migrant women. For the route via Mexico to the USA is one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world: on their way to the USA, the migrants are exposed to dangers such as assaults by criminal gangs or human trafficking. In order to counteract these migration challenges, migrant women are informed about their rights and safe migration routes on which they can find shelter in hostels or with families in solidarity. And with this, the committees are picking up a taboo topic: Out of shame the topic of migration is often not publicly addressed in Ixcán.

But despite the information programmes, not all migrants achieve their goal: some are arrested and deported to their countries of origin, others disappear on the migration route. Therefore, the local committee also works with affected family members. With the support of ACCSS, the known cases are forwarded to the appropriate national and Mexican authorities to help families find their missing relatives. In addition, families and migrant returnees receive psychosocial support in self-help groups to deal with the traumatic experiences.