Double

Honduras registered “a much more aggressive migratory flow” this year as more than 60,000 Hondurans migrated from the country — mostly to the United States — in search of better living conditions, according to information from the foreign ministry. But while some leave, others arrive. To date, nearly 45,000 Hondurans have been deported by air and ground routes. According to the statisticians, the historical migration flow has been 25,000 annually. The amount of migrants, which has nearly tripled, is due to both the country’s political turmoil and the economic crisis, which denies employment opportunities to a large segment of the population. More than half of the 200,000 young people who enter the work force each year are unable to find work; therefore their only option is to leave the country.

The other reason that pushes migration rates is the fact that the percentage of Honduran homes that receive remittances has declined. According to a document, entitled the Political Culture of Democracy in Honduras, “the global financial crisis has hit the Honduran economy with a double blow: First, the deceleration of economic activity in the U.S., which is the primary market for Honduran exports, resulted in a drop in exports and a rise in the deficit.” Second, “the high unemployment rate and the hardening of xenophobic posturing in some states in the Union have affected the ability of some Hondurans who reside in the United States to continue sending remittances to their families in Honduras.”

The study reveals that remittances represent more than 12 percent of the GDP and have become “the first and second source of income, sometimes overtaking exports, tourism and foreign investment.” Also, the report revealed that, in the case of Honduras, “the current global crisis caused a reduction in exports, direct foreign investment, remittances and income from tourism, that lead to the reduction in GDP.” It’s not a secret that income from remittances is what has maintained an acceptable level of international reserves, without which would have long ago caused the devaluation of the Honduran lempira. This additional income to families is what feeds consumerism, which generates commerce and economic growth.

Not only does this decreased income devastate those who depend on remittances, but the economy as a whole suffers. Maybe the impact of this decline is canceled out by the flow of resources that the country will receive from foreign investment, aside from the resources from international aid, damaged during the isolation period, which the government expects to receive. Nevertheless, the situation for our countrymen abroad has become complicated. There was no immigration reform before, and now, with the political turmoil that was produced by the recent legislative elections in the United States, it is nearly impossible that there will be. The environment for Hispanics there continues to be increasingly arid, a reason why it is urgent that there are incentives here to stimulate the productive forces to create new sources of employment.