Thursday, November 21, 2019

BETTER THERE THAN HERE: U.S. could send asylum seekers to remote jungle region under Guatemala plan

Nick Miroff/The Washington Post
Asylum seekers rejected by the United States could be transported to a remote airport in the lowland jungles of Guatemala as part of the Central American nation’s new migration accord with the Trump administration, according to senior officials from both countries.
Guatemalan Interior Minister Enrique Degenhart, who was in Washington on Friday to finalize his country’s asylum cooperation agreement with the United States, is planning to receive and resettle migrants in the Petén department, far from Guatemala’s capital.
The plan would have U.S. immigration authorities deliver migrants to Petén’s Mundo Maya airport, which is used primarily by tourists visiting the Mayan ruins at Tikal. There are currently no direct flights there from the United States, and any new routes would require the approval of U.S. aviation authorities.
U.S. officials have responded to Degenhart’s proposal with unease, because Petén lacks the facilities and the personnel to handle returnees who may need resettlement. Department of Homeland Security leaders have persuaded the Guatemalans to launch the program using established routes to the international airport at Guatemala City, not the Petén jungle, as the program gets underway.
However, in a phone interview with The Washington Post, Degenhart said he viewed Petén as an attractive option for the asylum agreement largely because it contains one of the country’s few international airports.
“It’s one option and it will probably be used,” he said, adding that some asylum seekers could be sent to Petén and others to Guatemala City. “The airports could be used in a mixed way, with flights sent to both airports.”
U.S. officials have responded to Degenhart’s proposal with unease, because Petén lacks the facilities and the personnel to handle returnees who may need resettlement. Department of Homeland Security leaders have persuaded the Guatemalans to launch the program using established routes to the international airport at Guatemala City, not the Petén jungle, as the program gets underway.
However, in a phone interview with The Washington Post, Degenhart said he viewed Petén as an attractive option for the asylum agreement largely because it contains one of the country’s few international airports.
“It’s one option and it will probably be used,” he said, adding that some asylum seekers could be sent to Petén and others to Guatemala City. “The airports could be used in a mixed way, with flights sent to both airports.”
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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