A STUDY ON IRREGULAR MIGRANTION AND DEPORTATION OF CHILDREN IN EL SALVADOR

Sofia Marisol Zelada EL SALVADOR

PROBLEM STATEMENT• Child deportation in El Salvador is a

prevailing problem.

• Every year at least 700 children are deported from the USA and in transit from Mexico.

• Children are migrating unaccompanied and irregularly exposing their life to many dangers

• Due to their irregular condition, children are detained and deported back to El Salvador, where they receive minimum services

• After their deportation, children still hold the idea to migrate anew.

From San Salvador to Dallas TX. 3,094 km

• .

To identify the major reasons behind child migration.

To explore the extent to which

deported children are willing to re-

migrate

To explore the measures

implemented in El Salvador to

support deported children,

especially the Return and

Reintegration Program

To suggest measures to the improvement of

the services being delivered

to the Salvadoran deported children

OBJECTIVES

OUTLINE OF THE STUDY

• Objectives,• Problem

Statement• Significance of

the study• LimitationsChapter 1

Scope of the Study

• Country profile• Migration from El

Salvador • The problem of

child deportation• Measures

implementedChapter 2

Overview of the problem

• Theories of migration, and

• Theories of motivation

Chapter 3Literature

Review

• Qualitative study• Interviews• Analytical

framework

Chapter 4 Methodology

• Results of the interviews

• Analysis of the Return and Reintegration Program

Chapter 5Findings

• Recommenda-tions

• Final conclusion of the thesisChapter 6

Conclusions

Motivation

a) Existence needs

b) Relatedness needs

c) Growth needs

Push factors

a) Povertyb) Low wagesc) Lack of job

opportunitiesd) Lonelinesse) Criminal

activities

Intervening factors

(positive and negative)

a) Short distanceb) Available

transportationc) Traveling

dangersd) Recurrent

deportatione) Expenses of

traveling

Pull factors

a)Family living in the destination countryb)Job availability c)Higher wagesd) Safety

Attractiveness+

Possibility to success

Decision to migrate or to

retrial

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

FINDINGS

Among the cases studied, there are many factors in the country of destiny as in the country of origin, that

combined intervene in the child’s decision to migrate.

There was a high involvement of the child’s family in their migration process.

There is a high probability that children will try to migrate again.

Interviewed children whose parent financially supported their migration decision were more motivated to re-

migrate than those who did not received any economic support from their parents.

FINDINGS

The program does not provide individual services to address the real needs of every child, on the contrary,

services are provided as ‘one size fits all’.

Efforts were made to favor immediate incorporation instead of a long-term reintegration..

Services are only provided to children deported from the United States, however the biggest number of

children are those deported from Mexico.

The program does not provide individual services to address the real needs of every child, on the contrary,

services are provided as ‘one size fits all’.

RECOMMENDATIONSThe implementation of a Co-production approach to reintegrate children, taking into consideration the community, the

family and the child’s needs

Flexibility of the reintegration program by treating every case individually with

multiple options available

Assistance should be provided in four

stages: pre-departure stage, transportation

stage, immediate arrival stage and the

post arrival stage

To guarantee basic education, to provide

children with an essential foundation for further education

and trainings

Dissemination of information

regarding the dangers of

migrating and the services provided to deported children

All children should be included as the

program’s targeted population without

consideration of their status or their country

of deportation.