TESTIMONIALS OF REFUGEES FROM THE NTCA

Transcription

1 TESTIMONIALS OF REFUGEES FROM THE NTCA I. REFUGEES Refugee children in Guatemala It was scary because we lived in a neighborhood where there was no work, and if you worked on the other side of the neighborhood you could get killed on the way there. They kill working innocent people every day fishermen, curileros. They kill them just for being on the wrong side. My brother and I felt unsafe so we came to Guatemala. Martín, 12 years old ELENA, 46, SINGLE MOTHER WITH THREE CHILDREEN The exodus of Elena (46), a single mother, and her three children began in the same way as that of thousands of Salvadoran families who have been forced to leave their homes after living for years in an environment of violence caused by criminal actors. Elena's family's terror story began when gangs in the area tried to recruit Elena's eldest son, Rafael (16). To protect him, she sent him to live with a relative in a nearby town. The gangs then decided to beat up Elena and threaten her with raping her 14-year-old daughter Adriana* as well as forcibly recruiting her son Gabriel*, only 11 years old.

2 Fearful Elena informed the police about the assaults and threats but she knew that defying the gangs meant a death sentence. As a consequence, the entire family had to leave their home. The departure was so sudden that Elena, head of the family, had to leave her eldest son behind. When they first left they did not know where to go. Her first idea was to move to neighboring Guatemala. But crossing the border was not going to be easy. Although Salvadorans can travel freely within Central America, when traveling with minors it is necessary to carry permits from both parents in order to use regular entry points. Elena had raised her children on her own and had no clue of her children s father whereabouts. Elena and her three youngest sons left at 3 o'clock in the morning. A trailer driver smuggled them to Guatemala. Dangers along the way increased because of the use of irregular routes. In Guatemala they were stolen all of their money - $ 200. "My children started to cry. They were very scared and hungry. I also wanted to cry but I had to be brave for them, show them that everything was going to be okay, Elena recalls. They did not feel safe in Guatemala either so they headed up north. They managed to enter Mexico without being apprehended by the immigration authorities. "We could not contain our tears. We had managed to get to Mexico but we had no idea where to go or what to do next", Elena says. "At the time we did not know that we could have protection in Mexico under refugee status." Refugee children in Costa Rica coming from the NTCA I was afraid that they would do something to my family. For instance, once they broke in and pointed a gun to our heads and I was very scared. I m feeling better now but I m sad because some of my relatives are still living in El Salvador. Yes, I feel safer here because Costa Rica is more peaceful. In I woke up every morning afraid that something might happen to my family. In Costa Rica, children have more opportunities because they are able to do things; they can go to the park, they can go for a walk In you can t go to the park and you can t go for a walk. If you don t join a gang they threaten you and your family. I am way better here in Costa Rica because Costa Rica is a safe country where people can live peacefully without being exposed to harassment and threats. In Costa Rica I can enjoy nature and spend my time outdoors, but not in. I feel safe and free. However I feel bad for the part of the family living in, I m worried about what can happen to them. Javier, 10 years old Carlos, 11 years old

3 NORMA, A POLICE OFFICER S WIFE In late 2014, four members of a gang kidnapped Norma* and took her to a graveyard near her house in. Three of them raped her. She believes that what they did to her was because she was married to a policeman. They took turns they tied up my hands. The put a piece of cloth in my mouth so I couldn t scream for help. When it was over, she remembered, they left me lying in a dump. Despite the fact that her husband is a police officer and having filed a formal complaint, Norma felt that no one could protect her from that gang, a powerful transnational armed group that has a significant presence throughout the region. Moreover, the gang members had already forced her to pay a weekly fee for her protection and had threatened her children. After her rape, she lived in constant fear for her life and her children s. "Gangs do not forgive... if they did not hurt me, they would have hurt my children," she said. Norma tried to find a safer environment by moving to her uncle s house in another city in. She changed her phone number and never left his house. Even then, she and her family kept receiving threats. Without any other option, her husband and Norma decided that she had to leave the country. Norma fled to Mexico by paying a coyote, a human trafficker, and in the end managed to reach the United States, where she applied for asylum. Before leaving the country, Norma wanted to withdraw the complaint to protect her family. However, Norma explained that her children, who are still living with her husband in, "still receive threats."

4 Reefugee children in Mexico from the NTCA When we were arriving at El Ceibo two men got out of a car and pulled us in. They told us they were giving us a ride towards we were headed. But when we got in, the two men told my friends to get out except for me. They kept me inside. When my friends got out the two men raped me. They were brothers, and they both raped me. Then they pulled my friends back in and told them that I had already paid for the ride. They took us to the Guatemalan border, Alameda, where we were able to cross to Mexico. There have always been fights between the Maras. When you go to their side of the town they stop you and ask you questions, they check your tattoos, they can tell you apart by your tattoos. Maynor, 17 years old Britany, 15 years old I left on May 5th. We headed to Guatemala, where we stayed for one month and then we left for Mexico. My friends were also forced to join the gangs, and they did and today that is their lifestyle. I was about to start High School but I couldn t because of the gangs. High school was on the other side of the neighborhood and I wasn t allowed to pass through. I lived in a part of the territory which was controlled by a gang, my high school was in area controlled by another gang. If they suspected you were a rat they kill you Alex, 16 years old Here I feel safer. Over there it s dangerous day and night, there are massacres and shootings in the streets not here, where I can go for a coffee at 7 p.m. In, if you are hanging on the streets past 9, they kill you. What I miss the most is my friends, I had a lot of friends in. I never heard of them again. Juan, 15 years old NELIA, TRANSGENDER WOMAN With her red hair and dressed in feminine attire, Neila stood out in some neighborhood of, controlled by gangs, where she was born as a man. She tolerated for years the taunts, nicknames and insults about her gender identity, but after suffering the fourth brutal knife attack, finally, the 26-year-old stylist decided to flee to save her life. "All of this is because my gender identity differs from the traditional," says Neila, who was stabbed 58 times in the various attacks that left her collar-shaped scars around her throat and cut wounds on her arm. She now lives in a shared room in this southern city of Mexico, along with a growing number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) from the so-called "Northern Triangle" of Central America, comprised of El Salvador, Guatemala and, who flee from aggression and harassment seeking security in neighboring countries. After working as a prostitute to raise the funds needed to flee, Neila survived in the streets of Tapachula before two friends helped her with food and water and put her in contact with UNHCR. Today, her bed is a piece of

5 cardboard on the floor in a room she shares with five other people. Her closet is a cord hanging from the wall. She subsists with pre-paid cards provided by UNHCR while waiting to see if she obtains recognition of refugee status in Mexico. She doesn t trust anyone, she says. She longs to see her family, her mother says, always supported her gender identity, and is concerned about her safety in. "I miss my family, and every day I fear for their lives because my mother witnessed a murder while selling sandals on the street," she said. "But there's no way to get them out of there." ARMANDO, TAXI DRIVER AFTER "THE BEAST" AMPUTATED HIS LEG, ARMANDO, A FORMER HONDURAN TAXI DRIVER, SEEKS TO REUNITE WITH HIS FAMILY AND RESUME HIS DREAM OF BECOMING A MUSIC PRODUCER IN MEXICO. Armando (23)* was forced to flee to another country to save his life. Working as a taxi driver, one of the most dangerous professions in, due to violence, extortion and impunity, he was unable to continue living in his city, since his life was in danger at any time of day. "Every day was a challenge to go to work, I did not know if I would come back home alive. But I had no choice, I needed the money to live and support my sister and my mother, with whom I lived," said Armando. According to the latest figures published by the Violence Observatory of the Autonomous University of, 162 transporters were killed in Once, the gang controlling his natal territory ordered him to pay a war tax but he didn t show up to the agreed location for the payment. Consequently, a few days later, Armando was attacked. Scared to death, Armando ran away and walked all over the country and Guatemala until he reached Mexico s border. When he arrived to Mexico he boarded the famous cargo train, better known as the beast. After several hours of travel, among the cold and the smell of dead animals, the young man was pushed off the train by people trying to extort him, and in the fall the train amputated his right leg. The route of the express that leads north is more than 4,000 kilometers long, and passengers of the so-called "train of death" usually spend days without eating or sleeping. For some time now, drug cartels have been charging a ticket to those who go on board, and those who do not pay are wildly pushed to the tracks, where many lose limbs and sometimes even life. "The first day I saw him he was in a shelter s bed with a wound full of blood. He was in a very bad shape, that day we had to send him in the hospital. When I left, he asked me not to deport him to because he was afraid," said Azucena Méndez, head of the UNHCR Office in Acayucan, southern Mexico. He went into surgery in a hospital in the State of Mexico and was then welcomed by a shelter while he recovered and completed his asylum procedure before the Mexican Commission for Relief Assistance (COMAR). In the first weeks in the shelter he got very ill and was admitted to the hospital again, but fortunately he recovered thanks to the assistance of all asylum seekers who, like him, were awaiting a resolution on refugee status. Days later, another young asylum seeker arrived who had also fallen off the train and heavily injured the spine without being able to move. Armando, in an act of solidarity, stood by his partner every day. According to the latest data published by the National Human Rights Commissioner of (CONADEH), in October 2014 they spoke of 220 violent deaths of taxi drivers in the previous 34 months, an average of seven per month. The majority of drivers killed, according to that report, were first extorted by one or more gangs, who demanded the payment of thousands of lempiras to work. According to the Observatory of Violence of the National Autonomous University of (UNAH) between January and September 2016 a total of 162 transporters were killed With the arrival of hundreds of young people, women, children and adults from Central America to Mexico, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) collaborates with the Government and civil society to closely monitor the situation on

6 the ground, improve capacities To seek alternatives to detention - especially for minors - and to reinforce vital activities such as the humanitarian assistance program which in 2016 benefited more than 4,500 asylum seekers and refugees. Currently, Armando works in a parish in a Mexican town, as official secretary. Under this function he is in charge of updating and reporting on daily activities in the parish, such as preparing documentation, taking appointments and keeping the agenda of events such as baptism, marriages, communions and other ceremonies. Armando was recognized a few days ago as a refugee by the Mexican government and will soon process his permanent residence in the country. The young man is also waiting to receive his prosthetics thanks to a program of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). "When I arrived I felt trapped in a country that was not mine, but I thank UNHCR and the shelter that supported me all the time in my asylum process. Now I want to resume my teaching career and become a music producer, because I started with music since I was 8 but I could never exercise because there was no work in this sector in my country and I became a taxi driver," the young man said with a big smile. Armando dreams also of meeting his unborn child. Armando has to ask for family reunification in Mexico for his Honduran partner, who is 7 months pregnant, because the life of her and the child may be in danger due to the bond with him. It is not only young people, but whole families who are fleeing from because of the violence generated by gang disputes, extortion, threats, forced recruitment, sexual violence, encroachment, plundering, occupation of land and housing, and insecurity. According to information provided by COMAR, in 2016 Mexico received almost 9,000 asylum applications, of which more than 91% were nationalities of the Northern Triangle countries of Central America. The number of applications increased by more than 156 per cent compared to Based on a monthly growth rate of more than 8 per cent since January 2015 and changes in migration trends, UNHCR estimates that the total number of applications for asylum in 2017 could end up at about 22,000. When I first met him, Armando was a scared young man in a lot of pain. Now he is working and recovering and eager to make his dreams come true. These are unique moments where you are able to see the purpose of our work reflected in a person s eyes, concludes Azucena.

7 Refugee children in Panama coming from the NTCA We could only hang out in our houses because the Maras were patrolling the streets. Therefore, we stayed at home or at our friends houses, but not on the street. Even during the day it was scary to go out because they were there, we were not safe. Edgar, 16 years old Sometimes it was quiet, sometimes it was scary, sometimes we slept outdoors, sometimes people would let us spend the night and sometimes we slept on the fields where we bitten by mosquitoes. Sometimes people kept staring at us, they came near us and then went away. I was scared that we wouldn t get here, that we wouldn t find a home or a job. Néstor, 13 years old I miss my friends and I miss the food. There is a soup named pepulla, I miss a lot of things from Ernesto, 15 years old First I want to finish my studies, find a job and become someone in life I want to have my own house, my own family and get into college. I want a job, my own job. I want to help other people like me, migrants. Valeria, 14 years olds CAMILA, 15, HER SISTER AND HER FATHER Camila, a 15-year-old Salvadoran teenager, was seven months pregnant when she and her family fled El Salvador. Camila was constantly being harassed by a member of the Mara in her community in San Miguel, a department of. Camila became pregnant as a result of multiple group violations under threat of death with a gun. For Camila, the weeks before leaving the country were the worst in her life. "When my dad found out about everything, he went to report it to the police but nothing happened. I could not hide the pregnancy anymore. Her father, Don Oscar*, felt upset and powerless during the past weeks in. "It is difficult for a father to see that his daughter has been assaulted and unable to do anything," Don Oscar said while he burst into tears during a

8 conversation with a UNHCR member in Casa Del Migrante, a shelter that also provides legal guidance on the right to seek asylum in Guatemala. The family life changed drastically when the mareros learned about the complaint to the police. "As soon as I learned about the pregnancy, I realized that we had to leave the country. There are no half measures here. We were kept under surveillance and when they heard of the complaint, they were going to kill us," Don Oscar said. "Once the Mara finds out you've gone to the police, you're dead," said Camila, who from a young age learned that in El Salvador if she wants to continue living, it's best to keep silence. "We left at night. My father arranged for a taxi to pick us up and we left with what we could carry." "I was not the first girl attacked by a marero and who got pregnant. The others never talked about it. They are too afraid. In, if you talk, they kill you." Camila explained to UNHCR the reality of teenage girls living in. When they found out about what had happened at school, they forced me and my sister to leave. According to them, it was a safety measure taken to protect the other students. We were locked up in the house for a couple of months. Behind our neighbor's house there was a tree, the Mareros used to come up the tree to see me and my sister inside the house. The first time we left the house was the day we left for Guatemala.

9 Refugee children in the USA coming from the NTCA Maria, 17 years olds When I left work late at night I had to run to take the bus because it was very dangerous to stay on the streets. Here, I often get out of work at midnight and I m not scared on the way home because it s safe. The main challenge here is the language, however there are other things for example the difficulty to make new friends it is very difficult to make new friends and to get use to the new life. It is very difficult for a Young man to live in because at 16 or 17 years old they are forced to join the gangs I was forced like many others to join a gang. If you don t belong to any gang they kill you, therefore you are forced to leave the country. In my case, I had to leave the country because I didn t want to join the gang any of both gangs, because there are two gangs. That is the reason why I m here. I wanted to stay in my country and live with my family, with my brothers, live a normal life like any other young man, but I couldn t, Men cannot live their lives or study because the gangs won t let them. Women are raped, killed, they force them to become members of the gangs as well, and they use them to communicate with the other gang. I mean, it is different for women and men but it is dangerous for both. In my case, I couldn t stay because my family and I were threatened to death. I knew that they were going to kill me so I had to leave the country. My life is better here but I miss my family. There is a lot of domestic violence in Guatemala, it is hard. Here, if someone raises their hand on a child, he can report it. But over there is very different, a child who suffers from constant abuse can t say anything. Children must only work and cannot complain. The life in here is very different, you have more rights, but not in Guatemala. I left Guatemala because of the violence. Pablo, 17 years old Guatemala In this country we face a lot of challenges, for example we don t speak the language and we have to learn a new culture. I want to become the president of my country in order to change things and respect people from different colors and sexualities in my country they are discriminated. I would like to change things because we are all human beings and we all deserve respect no matter the way we were born. Ángel, 13 years old Manuel, 16 years old JULIAN, ADOLESCENT For Julian*, 16, and his family, fleeing from a neighborhood controlled by Maras was a difficult task. After Julian received a death threat for not joining the criminal groups which controlled the neighborhood, the family devised an escape plan to Guatemala; fortunately no one was left behind. We knew that if one of us escaped, we ll all had to leave said Julian to UNHCR. Because if someone stayed, they were going to ask questions about the others.

10 For young people like Julian, living in and is extremely difficult. Refusing to be part of a Mara or to collaborate with its members is usually interpreted as a challenge to authority or a reason for mistrust; resulting in threats and persecution. "The sin of us all is to live here. You don t do anything wrong in life but the mere fact of being born and living here brings you a death sentence," said Julian. Several members of the same family can be harassed in different ways by criminal groups or Maras. Even innocent pedestrians can be affected by violence and persecution ranging from territorial control and extortion, to murder, kidnapping, forced recruitment and sexual violence. II. DISPLACED PERSONS / LIVING IN COMMUNITIES WITH A HIGH VIOLENCE INDEX Children displaced by violence in We should not wear showy outfits and after going somewhere or school we should head straight back home. And when we go to run an errand we have to walk fast and never look too much because if you actually see something you must keep quiet or you ll die. Olga, 12 years old Over there the MS mareros always engage in shootings and sometimes they threaten people to leave their homes we can t hang out in the streets, the latest you can be home is by 7 because if not our parents scold us because of the Maras My mom left because my big brother s father was a thug who was involved in a Mara and he was beaten to death. My mom started to receive threats so she had to leave. So my mom just took off, she grabbed her things and took off and now she is living way better. Jorge, 12 years old CARLA, 15, TEENAGER IN COLONIA 5 DE MAYO, RIVERA HERNÁNDEZ Carla*, 15, and a group of friends who are part of a youth community group told UNHCR how difficult it is to be a young girl in their neighborhood. Once there was a shooting going on and I was at a friend s house and I didn t know where to go Carla recalls, closing her eyes in order not to cry. I ran down the Street and a bullet passed right in front of me.

11 Carla and three of her friends had to quit school because of the Maras. It is not strange that adolescents are forced to leave their education to avoid being raped, harassed or forced to be engaged to a marero. "They told us they did not want to see us there anymore." ELENA, MOTHER After months of travelling, Elena*, 36, a mother of three children, found refuge in and she considered herself lucky. Her family had been murdered in cold blood days before she and her children fled; this was the breaking point that led them to seek for protection. "We left because we lived between two Maras who fought every day for control," Elena told UNHCR. "They killed anyone just to start a fight." In her city, San Pedro Sula, one of the most dangerous in the region, everyone she knew had already escaped. In the UNHCR Women in Fugue report, 85% of the women interviewed described living in neighborhoods controlled by criminal groups; 62% said they had seen dead bodies in the neighborhood s streets and 64% reported being targeted by threats and direct attacks by criminal armed groups, and that was one of the main reasons for their flight. "I was afraid for my children. There were constant shootings in the streets; the neighborhood looked like a cemetery at night, lonely. The electricity in the streets was often cut off, "Elena recalls. has the highest rates of femicide in Latin America and one of the highest rates of homicide among children and adolescents worldwide.

12 YESSENIA*, 56, TEACHER Yessenia* walked around the corner one afternoon in March when she saw a group of four young men beating up another. They spotted her too. "She's the teacher!" she recalls one of them screaming before they dispersed. The boy left behind was so beaten up that at first Yessenia could not recognize him, he was a student at the school where she taught in Tegucigalpa, Honduran capital. "If I had not showed up, he would have been killed," she said. But any consolation in knowing she could have saved the boy's life was short-lived. Two days later, she saw another group of young people she did not recognize near the school where she worked. Unable to avoid them in the street, she said "Good evening," and kept staring at the floor. Later that afternoon she heard gang members talking about their attempt to kidnap a 21 years old young man, but the police forces frustrated their operation. While still in school, Yessenia received calls from desperate parents of students who wanted to transfer their children to schools outside the neighborhood. Around 60 students left school between March and May, half the children in the classroom. The school s Headmaster ran away as well.

13 MARIO, STUDENT AND ENTERPRENEUR SAN PEDRO SULA,. February 28th, UNHCR Mario* (17) was forced to flee to another neighborhood in order to save his life. Being a student he was a direct victim of threats and was once abducted by violent actors, who are present in the colonies of San Pedro Sula. Mario was born and grew up in one of these colonies, where his whole family now lives. "We were 65 grandchildren living nearby my grandmother s; today I cannot spend time with them because in 2015 I had to move. It was not easy for me to leave my house, my school and my family." Communities and families living in territories under the control of these groups face major challenges in protecting their children. "I had to go because of the territorial dispute among gangs. The gang opposed to the one settled in the place where I lived began to harass us. Several young people who lived in the colony had to flee as well," says Mario, who has not been able to return home with his family. In, children, adolescents and young people bear the consequences of violence in their homes, schools and communities. They face permanent risks of use, attachment and recruitment, gender-based violence, the restriction of mobility imposed by members of gangs, which directly affects access to basic services and rights such as education and training, health, recreation, sport, family and community reunion, among others. The lack of alternatives and the limited mechanisms for the protection of adolescents and young people, coupled with the high levels of stigma and discrimination against the youth population from high-risk areas limits access to education and job opportunities, exacerbates the dangers they are exposed to on a daily basis and shadows the existing threats to their life, freedom, security and physical integrity. According to the Violence Observatory of the National Autonomous University of 1 between January 2010 and March 2016, there were 1,183 homicides of students throughout the country, 53% of whom were in secondary school. Schools are also greatly affected by violence. In the Central District of alone, 20% of the 2,674 schools - both private and public - are affected by extortion, according to the Departmental Education Director for the Department of Francisco Morazán. Faced with this serious situation and due to the impact of violence on this population, UNHCR, the UN Agency for Refugees and the Mennonite Social Action Commission (CASM) developed a strategic alliance (in August 2016) to mitigate Risks and strengthen protection mechanisms for young people displaced by violence. "We have signed an agreement with CASM that allows young people who have been internally displaced by violence or who are at risk of being displaced to receive accompaniment and orientation towards their situation, psychological care to reduce the impact of violence on mental health, strengthen their resilient skills, provide them with life skills training, and vocational training on employment and entrepreneurship," Celis said. Through this agreement 48 young people, such as Mario, have received vocational technical courses that include bakery, cell phone repair, barbershop and beauty. They have also received accompaniment and counseling aimed at rebuilding their life project. Within the results of the process, some young people have returned to school, others have found a job or started their own business in order to increase their chances of local integration in the host communities. Today, Mario owns a mobile phone repair business and currently continues to receive advice from the entrepreneurship and business management project, especially on how to maintain business accounting. He dreams of being a business administrator and hopes to save enough to enroll in a university and continue his studies. "The process with UNHCR and CASM not only helped me to discover my true potential, but also to meet and share with other displaced young people, to meet with my family in spaces free from gang control," says Mario. 1

14 Mario s mother and his brothers have been able to stand by him throughout different stages in the process with CASM, like his Graduation Ceremony. Proud of his certificate as a cell phone repair technician and hugging his mother, Mario emphasized: "I have all the tools to become an entrepreneur." Despite the absence of official registration and identification of displaced persons in the country, in 2016 UNHCR, in partnership with strategic partners, identified and assisted a total of 8,406 displaced persons. During the same year civil society organizations and mass media reported mass and simultaneous displacement events in San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. Internally displaced persons in are fleeing the violence generated by gang disputes, extortion, threats, forced recruitment, sexual violence, encroachment, land occupation and insecurity. In 2015, the Government of presented the report "Characterization of Internal Displacement in " prepared by the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Protection of Persons Displaced by Violence (CIPPDV). According to the report, around 41,000 households (174,000 people in 12 departments and 20 urban municipalities) have been displaced by violence between 2004 and Children displaced by violence in I want to make my mommy proud despite the things we ve been through. I was able to move on and to get a job Teresa, 15 years old First there was only one Mara in the neighborhood and then the MS Mara came along. Both Maras got very big and they are constantly getting into fights. People who live in a territory controlled by one Mara cannot go to a territory controlled by the other Mara, they just have to stay there. It s quite hard, you know with the Maras around. Therefore you must be careful, do not get carried away, because if you get carried away you can get hurt. Therefore it is better to stay away and do not get yourself into trouble. Sometimes when my mom is not around and I have to be by myself, I get scared, I feel them chasing me and trying to hurt me. For example, yesterday I was home alone, I was cooking by the door and they wouldn t stop calling me names and staring at me but I acted as if they weren t there. They passed through like three times and I was really scared that they came into the house because they were harassing me a lot. Carmen, 16 years old Miguel, 12 years old

15 III. DEPORTED PERSONS WITH PROTECTION NEEDS MARÍA JOSÉ*, 14, HER MOTHER AND HER BROTHER Constant extortion, territorial control wars, forced recruitment, sexual harassment and violence do not allow their inhabitants to forget "who is the boss", told us Maria José*, a 14-year-old Honduran girl forced to flee because of sexual violence. I was to be careful not to go where the rival Mara is settled if I wanted to go out or visit a relative. The rival Mara may think that you are spying on them and the local Mara may think that you are a snitch, says Maria José. In order to attend school I had to wear my uniform. Even then, when I got near them, I was scared to death. You know when they are watching and you try to hide that you are in fear, but they can smell it, she recalls. I was a good student. I won prices for academic excellence for years and the teacher would set me as an example. Some of my classmates, who had ties with one of the biggest Maras in San Pedro, were envious and started to harass me. Once they cornered me and I presented a complaint to the school, Maria Jose told UNHCR with tears in her eyes. After she accused her friends at school, Maria Jose became a new target for Mara 18. One afternoon, when she went to pick up her brother from school, two of her class mates were waiting for her around the corner. They grabbed her and took her to a house where she was rapped by three men. I didn t know what to do. They threaten to kill my family and make me watch. That day I didn t tell anyone about the incident, Maria Jose recalls while sobbing. Maria Jose was rapped two more times; the last time she arrived home with all her clothes ripped off. Finally, Maria Jose was able to tell her mother about everything that had happened in the last couple of months. That same night Maria Jose and her family packed their bags and left for Mexico. Their getaway wasn t easy either. Maria Jose remembered that the group in which she was traveling with her family was kidnapped by one of the most dangerous drug cartels in Mexico. Miraculously, we were set free under the condition that we had to leave Mexico or they were going to kill us, tells Doña Sandra*, Maria Jose s mother. We were so afraid that we turned ourselves in to Migration authorities hoping that they would help us. But a few days later we were in Tapachula and they deported us back to San Pedro Sula. When they arrived, they knew they couldn t stay for long in their home city so they headed to the north of the country and stayed at a relative s. After a few days Maria Jose started to receive threats and menacing phone calls. I knew they had found us, in, walls speak.