Child Refugee & Migrant Crisis

Thousands of people migrating from Honduras formed a caravan heading north in mid-January 2021.
Help Migrant Children Fleeing Violence and Poverty
A child is a child. UNICEF works with partners to protect and empower migrant and refugee children every step of the way.
Thirteen-year-old Hernan and Dafne, 7, stand with their mother, Sonia, amid the wreckage of their home in Guatemala, destroyed by Hurricanes Eta and Iota.
Migrant Flight: The Climate Change Factor
Extreme weather events across Latin America and the Caribbean have left already vulnerable children and families increasingly desperate.
Juana, 9, photographed with her mother and siblings at a shelter in Campur, San Pedro Carchá, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
Inside Look: COVID-19 and Child Protection in Guatemala
What it means to be a child migrant during a pandemic, & how UNICEF is tackling the issues that force children to flee in the first place.
UNICEF staffer stands by the Suchiate River at the Mexico-Guatemala border — a popular crossing point along the migration route.
Inside Look: How COVID-19 Further Endangers Migrant Kids in Mexico
UNICEF USA talks to Deputy Rep Pressia Arafin-Cabo about protecting vulnerable children on the move in the midst of a global pandemic.
Kids in El Salvador face multiple threats to their safety and well being, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inside Look: Coping With COVID-19 in El Salvador
A conversation with UNICEF El Salvador about supporting returning migrants and other vulnerable kids in the country during the pandemic.
UNICEF Mexico Deputy Representative Pressia Arifin-Cabo kneels down to speak with a child at an encampment in Matamoros in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.
Children Seeking Asylum Deserve Protection
The U.S. must stop using COVID-19 as a pretext for deporting migrant children who have tested negative and pose no public health threat.
unicef, unicef usa, immigration, undocumented immigrants, immigrant children, migrant children, immigration reform, immigration policy
How UNICEF Supports and Protects Child Migrants Every Step of the Way
Children and young people are entitled to the same basic human rights wherever they are, regardless of borders.
A boy from the Miskito ethnic group in Honduras leaves Tegucigalpa for his home community of La Mosquitia after his parents lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Protecting Child Migrants During a Pandemic
How UNICEF is protecting children on the move in northern Central America, Mexico and the U.S. in the context of COVID-19.
This mother and her child were passing through Honduras when they were picked up and sent by bus to a government-run quarantine facility as required by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inside Look: How COVID-19 Is Deepening the Migrant Crisis in Honduras
A conversation with UNICEF Child Protection Specialist Lea Beaudry about how UNICEF is doing whatever it takes to protect kids.
In Honduras, a Need for Violence Reduction, Education and Opportunity
UNICEF and partners are working to improve conditions in Honduras, so children and families won't feel forced to migrate.
Families migrating from Central America to the U.S. set up makeshift camps in Tijuana, Mexico, one of the most violent cities in the world.
Immigration Policies Put Migrant Families at Serious Risk of Violence
Current policies prevent families from accessing their legal right to protection in the U.S. as they seek asylum.
UNICEF helps families like Andrea* and her two toddlers, who fled Guatemala after her husband, Cristian*, was threatened by gang members who tried to recruit him to collect extortion payments for them.
Fleeing Violence in Guatemala, a Young Family Yearns for Safety
Central Americans targeted by gangs face a difficult choice: leave everything behind and start over, or stay put and risk death.

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