'Nobody's Children' at the Mexico-U.S. Border (La Prensa, Honduras)
"Along the way, over 70 percent of migrant children will die
or be enslaved. They never reach their destination because they are prey to
vultures lying in wait in Guatemala or Mexico to sexually abuse them, force
them to join criminal gangs that operate with impunity, or kill them to
intimidate others. They are children unwanted by anyone - the children of no
one. ... Let us offer our children a future. That is our responsibility,
because the children of Honduras are the children of us all."
The
tears of those now in government, who listen to the stories of children who
have made it to the United States in search of a better life, are tears of
hypocrisy. Such stories have been known for over two decades, starting when an
easy solution could have been found to a problem that now seems to constrain
some people's souls. The distressing phenomenon of migrant children was reported
by Casa Alianza
over 20 years ago, but there has never been the political will on the part of
any government.
What
compels migrant children to undertake the perilous journey is the certainty
that they would die of hunger or violence if they remained in homes stricken by
a poverty that killed their parents and forced them emigrate. It is despair
over a promised future that was never fulfilled. Making the trip puts their
lives at risk, but there is hope of getting through, whereas to stay means
being resigned to die.
Along
the way, over 70 percent of migrant children will die or be enslaved. They
never reach their destination because they are prey to vultures lying in wait
in Guatemala or Mexico to sexually abuse them, force them to join criminal
gangs that operate with impunity, or kill them to intimidate others. They are
children unwanted by anyone - the children of no one.
Two
decades ago, the conditions that have forced them to migrate could have been
corrected, but no one did. So began their recruitment by local gangs, where
criminals were just beginning to use "chimbas [homemade weapons]."
Now they use AK47s, have bigger budgets, and are better organized than the
police.
The
current government wants to rebuild the Air Force, ignoring the fact that the
enemy is not in the air, but on the ground and found in every city, town, and
village in Honduras. Our enemy is the corruption of public employees, the
abandonment of the population, despair and the lack of education, and the
deceit to which we are all subject to every four years.
Posted
By Worldmeets.US
There
is no need to spend billions of dollars buying aircraft if we can stop those
narcotics-laden aircraft when they land. After all, an airplane that goes up,
must come down, and if it lands in Honduras, one might hope they would be
greeted by a land force far more effective and economical. Again we insist: the
enemy is not in the air, but among us and easy to identify. If the entire population
knows them and where they are, how come the police don't know?
We
must renew our commitment to support farmers in every community and support our
young college and university graduates. Let us offer our children a future.
That is our responsibility, because the children of Honduras are the children
of us all. Let us look with indifference toward the heavens, stop thinking
about planes, and start thinking, really thinking, about our children.
