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Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies USMEX

Migrants Walking along Railroad Track (Mexico), credit: World Refugee & Migration Council; the right side has a dark blue overlay with the UC San Diego branded element of a stylized tridentNorth and Central American Task Force on Migration

The North and Central American Task Force on Migration is a non-governmental forum of academics, civil society and business leaders, and former policymakers in dialogue with current government officials created to facilitate a broadly driven solution dialogue among the countries involved in the crisis of migration and forced displacement in the region.

Initiated by the World Refugee & Migration Council with the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, the Colegio de México, the Migration Policy Institute and the Inter-American Dialogue, the Task Force will issue concrete recommendations for collective, regional action based on evidentiary research to promote responsibility sharing across North and Central America.

TASK FORCE CO-CHAIRS

Sec. Madeleine Albright (United States)
Hon. Lloyd Axworthy (Canada)
Lic. Mayu Brizuela de Avila (El Salvador)
Dr. Julieta Castellanos (Honduras)
Fr. Leonir Chiarello (Scalabrinian Order)
President Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica)
Dr. Silvia Giorguli Saucedo (Mexico)
Cardinal Álvaro Ramazzini (Guatemala)

North and Central American Task Force on Migration Official Site

Interim Report & Recommendations — Humanitarian Protection in the Region: A State of Emergency

The final report results from five rich interim reports outlining the recommendations developed from our deliberations. The five interim reports are now available on our Task Force website:
  • Regional Cooperation and Co-Responsibility — PDF: English | Spanish
  • Humanitarian Protection in the Region: A State of Emergency — PDF: English | Spanish
  • Reducing Irregular Migration from Central America Through Alternative Regular Migration Pathways — PDF: English | Spanish
  • Economic and Environmental Drivers of Central American Migration — PDF: English | Spanish
  • Institutional and Political Drivers of Migration in Central America — PDF: English | Spanish
High-level recommendations included in the Final Report (PDF: English | Spanish):
  • A comprehensive, strategic, regional approach is needed to address migration from Northern Central America. No one country can deal with the complexities of this migration on its own. Central American governments, together with civil society and the private sector must intensify efforts to address the systemic political and economic factors that have led millions of Central Americans to leave their countries.
  • Governments in Northern Central America must address the political, economic and institutional drivers of migration. There are no quick fixes to address the drivers of migration; fundamental political, institutional and economic change is necessary. While foreign investment in Central American economies is needed, systemic issues of political will and corruption must be tackled to reduce political risk. Respect for human rights and rule of law are needed to provide human security and education, and health care and social infrastructure must be strengthened. This will take time and political courage. While governments of the migrants’ countries of origin must demonstrate a commitment to change, other governments in the region must step up to support these efforts. 
  • The United States, Canada and Mexico must increase legal channels for Central Americans to migrate – through both labor migration and protection pathways. Central Americans are migrating through irregular means because there simply are not enough legal pathways to migrate.
  • All regional actors — from Central American governments to donors, international NGOs and financial institutions — must find ways to support the active engagement of civil society in addressing the drivers of migration, supporting migrants and returnees, and in advocating for needed policy changes. Civil society actors are playing a valiant, humanitarian role in the region but are under threat and under-resourced.

New Task Force: Regional Response Key to Addressing Migration in North and Central America

Statement of the North and Central American Task Force on Migration