New York, NY, June 12, 2018 — The IRC expresses deep concerns with the Administration’s decision in Matter of A-B, eroding critical protections for those legitimately seeking asylum in the U.S. At its core, this decision risks pre-determining the fate of asylum seekers fleeing gang violence, severe domestic violence and other forms of persecution perpetrated by non-governmental actors, including religious persecution—asylum claims that have long-standing credibility under domestic and international law.
This latest decision to strip away protections for those most in need—including women and children—comes at a time when levels of violence in the Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala) are akin to those in the deadliest war zones around the world. That’s why the total number of asylum applications globally from the three countries rose more than eleven-fold from 2011 to 2017. In the last decade, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala have been gripped by pervasive and ever-growing gang violence, taking turns in recent years having the highest homicide rates in the world. In response to tremendous levels of violence and critical protection needs, IRC returned to El Salvador last year.
In countries dominated by gangs, violence against girls and women is particularly brutal and widespread. IRC staff in El Salvador have witnessed first-hand the acute vulnerabilities and protection needs of women and girls who are victims of brutal domestic violence, and of members of the LGBTQI community who are targeted by gangs because of their sexual orientation. In 2016, El Salvador and Honduras were two of the top 10 countries outside of armed conflict with the highest murder rates of women – femicide – in the world. In 2017, on average, more than 9 women and girls were killed in El Salvador every single week with 469 total femicides. What’s worse, when women and children are forced to flee, the journey north is fraught with dangers, including shocking levels of rape and sexual violence along the route.
Said Hans Van de Weerd, Vice President of U.S. Programs –
The world’s most powerful country continues to strip away protections for the world’s most vulnerable. Temporary protections for those already in the U.S. from El Salvador and Honduras, among several other countries around the world, have been terminated despite conditions remaining unsafe for return. Parents are being cruelly and deliberately separated from their children at the border as a matter of policy. And now, this latest asylum decision uprooting standing legal precedent jeopardizes the lifeline for those fleeing domestic, gang-related, or other severe violence perpetrated by non-state actors with credible claims for protection—it could amount to a death sentence for countless individuals the U.S. is legally bound to protect.
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