Comment: The responsibility for such dramas lies also in Central America | Comments | '
Heartbreaking, inhuman, simply unbelievable: the image of the drowned Óscar Martínez Ramírez and his two-year-old daughter Valeri from El Salvador shatters and raises questions.
For Tania Ávalos, the surviving wife and mother, who had to watch helplessly from the shore, it must have been dramatic moments: the struggle for survival, their own powerlessness – the certainty of having risked everything for the hope of a better life in the end to lose everything.
A wake up call for President Trump?
One could now speak of a wake-up call for President Trump and his inhumane refugee policy. And it is clear that the photo will be the one proof for the "emergency on the border" and for a wall to ensure clear conditions so that such scenes do not repeat themselves. The Democrats, on the other hand, will feel confirmed in their thesis: First and foremost, it is a humanitarian crisis and the two casualties are the result of a cynical migration policy.
Oliver Sallet is a ‘ correspondent in Washington
But simply blaming the US refugee policy would be too easy. Thousands flee Central America from poverty, violence and gang violence, hoping to find protection and a better life in the US.
It is the corruption-plagued governments there who have the two lives on their conscience and many more who have died on their way to the United States. El Salvador, home to the Martínez family, is considered to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world: Corruption and violence characterize people's everyday lives – according to estimates by the United Nations World Food Program, 40 percent of the population live below the poverty line. The state there and in various neighboring countries has long since lost its monopoly on the use of force.
If you do not dare to go out on the street anymore
Almost everyone in El Salvador can also tell stories about the so-called Maras, the feared youth gangs like "Calle 18" or "Mara Salvatrucha", control the entire neighborhood, extorting protection money, families fleeing or even murder, if they do not meet the demands progeny.
Only when these gangs are put to the skies, people can again go without fear on the street and see a perspective in their own country, the numbers of refugees will be reduced and scenes, like those on the Rio Grande, do not repeat themselves. Until then, no wall or fence will protect the US from the desperate search for security and a better life.
Above all, people in Central America will continue to dream of the land of opportunity, from which friends and relatives who have made it report. But for most people, the false hopes they set for and are willing to risk their lives. The search for education, work and a future in the US is difficult. Only a few have the chance of obtaining political asylum, most of the applications are rejected.
The distress in the US does not deter anyone from the risk
Until then, inhumane conditions of imprisonment in completely overcrowded refugee camps are threatening. The congested authorities may take years to process an application.
And those who have no family in the US often end up on the street. The many homeless migrants fighting for survival every day in the cities near the Mexican border are the clearest evidence.
But all that prevents most people from heading north. All the misery waiting for them seems small, compared to what they want to leave behind. For them, the US remains the land of unlimited hopes and opportunities – but increasingly rare for migrants from Central America.
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