RELEASE: New Charts Provide Visualization of How Violence Is Causing Children to Flee Central America

Washington, D.C. — The uptick in the number of children fleeing to the United States has focused attention on the conditions in the Central American countries of Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. In total, these nations have seen 62,998 kids flee to the United States and other neighboring countries. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, asylum applications in neighboring nations—namely, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Belize—have risen 712 percent since 2009.

A new series of charts released today by the Center for American Progress provide visual analysis of the violence, murder, extortion, rape, and abuse in some of the world’s most violent countries that these children are fleeing.

Access all the charts here.

Related resources:

• The Surge of Unaccompanied Children from Central America – Root Causes and Policy Solutions by Dan Restrepo and Ann Garcia
• A Way Forward on Child Refugees by Marshall Fitz, Philip E. Wolgin, and Angela Kelley
• Statistical Analysis Shows that Violence, Not Deferred Action, Is Behind the Surge of Unaccompanied Children Crossing the Border by Tom K. Wong
• Children Fleeing Central American Violence Need Access to Lawyers by Diego Quezada
• 5 Things You Need to Know About Unaccompanied Children by Philip E. Wolgin and Angela Marie Kelley

To speak to an expert on this topic, please contact Tanya S. Arditi at [email protected] or 202.741.6258.

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