Honduras: Poor Little
Emigrants
At least 500 Hondurans,
including 100 children,
emigrate illegally
everyday, according to
figures provided by the
Honduran Department of
Immigration.
Minister German Espinal
explained that 185,000
people, including 37,000
minors, left the country
in 2007.
Most alarming is that
many of these children
are subjected to abuse
and sexual exploitation
as they travel alone or
with "coyotes" hired by
their parents or
families abroad.
Mexico is the country
with the highest rate of
sexual exploitation of
Honduran children.
The traffic of people
for sexual exploitation
is a serious, worrying
problem. We do not have
the exact number of
victims although it is
highly visible and
frequently reported,
Espinal admitted.
The Foreign Ministry's
Consular Affairs Office
registered deportation
of 2,354 minors by land
from Mexico and
Guatemala last year.
Most of them were
victims of sexual abuse.
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