Honduras-Baseline assessment of migration flows and mobiity tracking within the context of COVID-19 report #4 (March, 2021)

The social and economic context of Honduras has been affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic and by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The Pandemic caused the imposition of a nationwide quarantine starting on 12 March 2020. This measure impeded informal employment activities, affected business ventures, and caused the closure of many small family businesses in border communities, thus generating greater social instability in the different communities.

The Northern Region is still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricanes Eta and Iota, and many families that lost their homes are still affected by a high level of vulnerability. In addition, various humanitarian assistance organizations began to leave the area, thus leaving the affected families without assistance. The Western and Southern Regions are still affected by the damage caused by the hurricanes, especially crop destruction. There still is no sustained economic recovery that can improve conditions with respect to income and employment, and there remains a high level of uncertainty regarding the recovery of the economy in the border communities.

Due to Guatemalan migratory policy, the migrant caravan modality and the routes used are changing. Migrants expressed their intent to leave in small groups through unofficial border crossing points, and not in caravans as was done on between 30 and 31 March 2021. Comprised of around 300 persons, this last caravan attracted fewer people than previous caravans. A decrease has also been noted in the incoming flow of irregular migrants, although it is not known if this is due to migrants’ entering the country regularly.