The Pastoral of Human Mobility and Returning Migrants with Disabilities. Building paths to reintegration

The topic of Central American migration to the United States stands out in migration studies not only for its historical elements, but also, in the current context, for its specificities. Honduras, along with other countries in the region, stands out for its high rates of emigration of people in search of more dignified conditions of survival, fleeing a context marked by a lack of opportunities, unemployment, violence, the actions of organized criminal groups, poverty, among other aspects that limit the possibilities for development in the country itself.

These are people who leave their countries and face the migratory transit in a situation of vulnerability, since they don't have the necessary resources to undertake the migratory route safely. The cases of those who use the freight train known as La Bestia as a means of transportation are not uncommon, exposing themselves to risk factors (Ruiz Marrujo, 2001) such as abuse, kidnapping, extortion, falls, amputations and even death.

Disability is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that includes two clearly defined facets, the individual and the social (Tobar Estrada, 2013). It is important to consider the subjective experience, care and intervention needs, as well as class and gender factors, for example, which come into play in the reintegration process of injured people when they return to Honduras. The traumatic events related to the accident and the amputation of some part of the body, added to the deportation process, make up a scenario in which people return to their place of origin with frustrated dreams, confused, traumatized, in duel processes. A situation that becomes even more complex and delicate for women, given that many of them face violence in the family environment and may be more susceptible to abuse and rape.

When these factors are combined with the migratory condition, people with disabilities are faced with a series of social blockages which, consequently, can further aggravate their living conditions and those of their families in terms of exclusion or poverty (Terrones, 2020). This is because return itself is a complex process in which nuances are added when it comes to people who return to their place of origin due to a deportation process, which interrupts their trajectory and, with a disability, which imposes a new physical condition, affecting this return to the social place and implying new needs for a reintegration process, which, not infrequently, is neglected by the country of origin itself, which would be their safe place, their homeland, therefore falling on the families.

What's more, behind the faces of hundreds of returned migrants with disabilities are hundreds of mothers and wives, who have never left Honduras, but who experience the consequences of migration, and who dedicate themselves to caring for and supporting their families. All this care work also has an impact on their emotional and physical health.

The return of migrants with disabilities due to accidents on the migratory route portrays an aspect of high vulnerability within the migratory context, even though it concerns a relatively low number of cases. However, it requires a sensitive approach so as not to run the risk of blaming the migrant for the circumstances that led to the amputation, for having used the freight train, for example, and removing the state's responsibility for dealing with these cases, on the grounds that they are individual health problems. This understanding implies abandoning the perspective that considers amputee cases as circumstantial or accidental situations within migration, given that such events are socially constructed. Therefore, more than a welfare issue, it is a human rights issue, which regardless of the rates of occurrence, requires the active action and intervention of the state and its specific institutions so that returning migrants with disabilities are treated appropriately (Tobar Estrada, 2013).

The Pastoral de Movilidad Humana provides care and support to people who suffer accidents on the migratory route and return to Honduras with a disability, as well as access to physical health and rehabilitation services - such as access to prostheses and wheelchairs - and mental health, through psychosocial care.

In an attempt to break with the accumulation of situations that make up the vulnerability of returnees with disabilities, the institutions that provide assistance to this population, such as PMH, seek to minimize the consequences of this migration on the migrant and their family, pointing out ways and providing support, recognizing their abilities and potential, creating and strengthening networks of articulation and solidarity, so that they can be protagonists of their lives and active people in the processes of rebuilding their lives after returning.

The aforementioned themes are dealt with in greater depth in the next volume to be released by Editora CSEM and the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales en Honduras (FLACSO): the book "Pastoral de Movilidad Humana y Migrantes Retornados con Discapacidad. Building paths for reintegration".

The book is part of the commemorative actions of the 30 years of mission of the Pastoral de Movilidad Humana in Honduras and is the fruit of an ongoing research under the coordination of the Scalabrinian Center for Migration Studies.

The first chapter presents the lines and areas of action of the PMH with returned migrants with disabilities, as well as the profile of the people assisted by the institution for access to physical health and mental health services in the last 10 years, based on the assistance forms.

The second chapter looks at elements of the migratory journey that involve risks and situations that lead to accidents that affect migrants on the migratory route and, consequently, cause injuries or mutilations that lead to physical disabilities.

The third chapter deals with the return to Honduras and the process of reintegration into the place of origin, highlighting the needs, difficulties, resources and support actions that institutions like PMH develop with disabled returnees in the challenging process of reframing their existence, developing alternatives for survival and dealing with one or more amputations and their effects on mental health.

The publication is available below:

References:

RUIZ MARRUJO, Olivia. Risk, migration and border spaces. In: Studies Magazine demographics y urbanMay August, No. 47, p. 257- 284. El Colegio de México, Mexico. 2001

TERRONES, Luisa Alquisiras. Mutilations in the neoliberal order: Central American migrants in transit through Mexico. Doctoral thesis. Puebla. November 2020.

TOBAR ESTRADA, Anneliza. Disability and migration to Mexico and the United Statesun análisis desde la exclusión social. In: Enrique Baltar Rodríguez, María da Gloria Marroni, Daniel Villafuerte Solís (Coordinators), Viejas y nuevas migraciones forzadas en el Sur de México, Centroamérica y el Caribe. Mexico: D.R. Editores y Impresores Profesionales EDIMPRO, S.A. de C.V. 2013. p. 173-214.