18 January 2021

In mid-January, as thousands of mostly Honduran migrants, including many children, began crossing the Guatemalan border as part of a new “caravan” seeking passage to the United States, Guatemalan security forces forcefully repelled them, leading to scenes of violence and chaos near the border. Videos posted on social media and news networks showed scuffles between migrants and soldiers and police trying to block their way using teargas, riot shields, and sticks.
Helping drive this humanitarian emergency are multiple crises that are afflicting Honduras, which has long suffered endemic poverty, widespread gang violence, lawlessness, and political turmoil. Aggravating this situation are the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and back-to-back hurricanes that struck the country last November.
According to Prensa Libre, Guatemala’s immigration chief, Guillermo Diaz, told the migrants: “You cannot and will not get through. … It is impossible for you to continue your journey. We invite you to return to your country of origin, you will not pass.” A migrant responded: “We have no work. We can’t go back. ... Back home we’re dying of hunger.” Guatemalan authorities reported that on Saturday 16 January, they had deported some 1,000 members of the “caravan,” including around 200 children. Two days later, on 18 January, Guatemalan troops forcibly cleared a road of nearly 2,000 migrants, including many families with children, who had camped overnight after the clashes with security forces. Many of the migrants subsequently returned to the nearby village of Vado Hondo, apparently in search of alternative routes.
This is just the latest in a series of “caravans” that have left Central America in recent years seeking to cross Mexico en route to the United States. However, this one comes as a change of administrations in the U.S. is imminent. Migrant rights advocates have called on President-elect Joe Biden to scrap Trump’s immigration policies, including the “Quédate en México” (Remain in Mexico) programme, officially known as Migrant Protection Protocols (for more about this policy, see the 2 November 2020 United States update on this platform). Between June 2019 and August 2020, some 65,000 people were returned from the U.S. to Mexico despite the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2 November Mexico update on this platform). This programme reportedly exposed tens of thousands of asylum seekers - many of them children - to violence, abduction, and rape by sending them back across the border into dangerous cities in Mexico (Guardian 6 January 2021).
During a press conference on 18 January, Mexico’s President López Obrador said he was hopeful that Biden would carry out reforms of U.S. immigration policies, as promised in his presidential campaign, adding that his administration was “coordinating with Central American governments, current U.S. officials, and those that will be forming the new government.” López Obrador claimed that he had proposed to Biden a development program for Central America so that people would not feel compelled to emigrate and that “Biden agreed with this approach.”
Biden’s domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, when asked about the new migrant “caravan,” said: “Migrants and asylum seekers absolutely should not believe those in the region peddling the idea that the border will suddenly be fully open to process everyone on Day 1. It will not.”
- T. Phillips, “Migrant Caravan Trekking North to US Border Clashes with Guatemalan Troops,” The Guardian, 17 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/17/migrant-caravan-trekking-north-us-border-clash-guatemala-troops
- Lucero Sapalú, “Twitter 17 January 2021,” https://twitter.com/Lsapalu_elP/status/1350831976366923776?s=20
- Lucero Sapalú, “Twitter 17 January 2021,” https://twitter.com/Lsapalu_elP/status/1350572811123888130?s=20
- J. M. Vega, “Caravana Migrante: Ejército Enfrenta y Detiene Avance de Hondureños en el Kilómetro 177 de la Ruta al Atlántico,” Prensa Libre, 16 January 2021, https://www.prensalibre.com/ciudades/chiquimula/caravana-migrante-ejercito-enfrenta-y-detiene-avance-de-hondurenos-en-el-kilometro-177-de-la-ruta-al-atlantico/
- J. Rose, “Immigrant Advocates Vow To Keep Up Pressure as Biden Asks for Patience,” NPR, 23 December 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/12/23/949623497/immigrant-advocates-vow-to-keep-up-the-pressure-as-biden-asks-for-patience?t=1610982242713
- T. Phillips, “Remain in Mexico Policy Needlessly Exposed Migrants to Harm, Report Says,” The Guardian, 6 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/06/remain-in-mexico-migrants-trump-biden-human-rights-watch
- BBC News, “Migrant Caravan: Mexico Presses US to Reform Immigration Policies,” 19 January 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-55714865
- Reuters, “Guatemalan Troops Forcibly Clear Migrant Caravan From Highway,” The Guardian, 18 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/18/guatemala-troops-migrant-caravan-honduras
- A. Morales, “Pide AMLO Respetar Derechos Humanos de Caravana Migrante,” El Universal, 18 January 2021, https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/pide-amlo-respetar-derechos-humanos-de-caravana-migrante
- Guatemalan Security Forces Clash with a Group of Honduran Migrants, (Esteban Biba, EPA, "Migrant Caravan Trekking North to US Border Clashes with Guatemalan Troops," The Guardian, 17 January 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/17/migrant-caravan-trekking-north-us-border-clash-guatemala-troops)
12 November 2020

The Guatemalan Migration Institute reports that more than 1,400 unaccompanied minors have been expelled by U.S. authorities to Guatemala since March. The deportations have often taken place before the children are given the opportunity to apply for asylum. In October alone, some 407 children were expelled. (By contrast, 385 unaccompanied children were deported to Guatemala in 2019.) This increase is due to new U.S. migration controls, announced in March in response to the pandemic. Citing the coronavirus, U.S. authorities have invoked laws that allow them to summarily deport people apprehended while trying to cross the border irregularly, without initiating deportation proceedings if there is a health risk (see the United States 10 November update on this platform.) On arrival in Guatemala, child deportees are reported to be placed under the care of the presidency’s social wellbeing secretariat and housed in a shelter in Guatemala city, before being reunited with family members.
Despite the dangers that deportations pose during the pandemic, thousands of Guatemalan nationals have been deported to the country from the United States, even though Guatemalan authorities have raised concerns about the arrival of infected deportees. (On one occasion in April, 70 of 76 deportees from Texas tested positive upon arrival in Guatemala City.) On 4 May, the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry reported that deportees accounted for more than 15 percent of all COVID-19 infections in the country (for more, see 10 June Guatemala update on this platform). As of 12 November, Guatemala had registered more than 113,000 COVID-19 cases, and 3,845 deaths.
- J. Abbott, “US Accused of Using Covid as Excuse to Deny Children Right to Asylum,” The Guardian, 10 November 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/us-child-deportations-guatemala-pandemic
- D. Gonzalez, “'They Were Sending the Virus': Guatemala Reels After U.S. Deports Hundreds of Deportees with COVID-19,” Azcentral, 28 October 2020, https://eu.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/immigration/2020/10/28/hundreds-deported-by-us-to-guatemala-during-pandemic-had-covid-19/5902239002/
23 June 2020

Responding to the GDP Covid-19 survey, the Guatemalan Ombudsman office (Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos or PDH) said that the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry has reported a notable reduction in the number of flights returning migrants to Guatemala. Guatemala has also suspended numerous deportation flights from the United States (see 19 June Guatemala update on this platform) and suspended the implementation of the ACA (Acuerdo de Cooperación y Asilo) agreement with the United States in March until further notice. Under the agreement, the United States transferred non-Guatemalan asylum seekers to Guatemala without allowing them to lodge asylum claims in the United States. In a report by Refugees International and Human Rights Watch (listed as a source below), the organisations showed that ACA did not meet the criteria in United States’ law for a Safe Third Country Agreement that would enable Salvadorans and Hondurans to seek asylum in a safe country other than the United States. The PDH confirmed that currently, only Guatemalan nationals are being returned to Guatemala.
The PDH said that only certain returnees were being tested for Covid-19 upon their arrival and that returnees were placed in quarantine in special reception centres, prior to being allowed to return to their local communities.
However, in their response to the GDP survey, the PDH said that they were unable to provide information on whether persons in immigration detention had been released or give any information concerning measures taken to protect detainees from Covid-19. The information submitted to the GDP mostly focused on returns from the United States and did not provide specific answers as regards immigration detention in the country.
- Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Global Detention Project Covid-19 survey, June 2020.
- HRW, “US: Abusive Transfers of Asylum Seekers to Guatemala,” 19 May 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/19/us-abusive-transfers-asylum-seekers-guatemala
- HRW and Refugees International, “Deportation with a Layover,” 19 May 2020, https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/05/19/deportation-layover/failure-protection-under-us-guatemala-asylum-cooperative
- Two Asylum Seekers, One from El Salvador, One from Honduras, Wait Inside a Migrant House in Guatemala City after Being Sent to Guatemala from the United States on 3 December 2019, Under An “Asylum Cooperative Agreement” Between the Two Countries," (Oliverde Ros, AP Photo, "US: Abusive Transfers of Asylum Seekers to Guatemala," HRW, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/19/us-abusive-transfers-asylum-seekers-guatemala)
19 June 2020

Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, Guatemala’s immigration authority (Instituto Guatemalteco de Migración) reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders has been established. The Guatemalan immigration authority also reported that currently only Guatemalan national residents and accredited consular diplomats are allowed to enter the country. Non-citizens are only allowed to leave the country and are prohibited from entering.
The greatest impact of Covid-19 on the migration situation facing Guatemala has been U.S. deportations, which continued even after concerns were raised about infected Guatemalans being deported. According to news reports, on 20 April, more than 5,000 Guatemalan nationals were in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the United States. Of these, almost 4,000 were detained for immigration reasons and more than 1,000 were children. Deportations from the United States to Guatemala have not been suspended and from 29 March to 22 May, 1,200 undocumented migrants were deported. On 11 May, official statistics reported that 102 infected migrants had been deported back to Guatemala.
The Guatemalan government has suspended several deportation flights and requested that the United States provide a health certificate for every deportee attesting that they are clear of Covid-19. However, according to the president of the “Cooperacion Migrante” organisation, migrants carrying the virus continue to arrive as the United States is only carrying out Covid-19 tests at random. In addition, Douglas Gonzales, an academic and political analyst, said that the main obstacle to controlling the importation of Covid-19 cases is not in deportations from the USA but rather that the country does “not have the capacity to control migratory flows on a land border as large as the one with Mexico.”
The Guatemalan Ombudsman (Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos Guatemalteca) criticised the government for the conditions in which returned migrants were held (in a makeshift reception centre located in the Guatemala City airport). The BBC reported that returnees were given mats to sleep on the floor of a room inside the airport (see image).
Guatemalan prisons hold 26,160 persons with 52 percent of prisoners serving prison sentences and 48% placed on remand. On 5 June, the country's Ministry of Health confirmed the death of two prisoners from Covid-19 in the Centro de Detencion Preventiva para Hombres de la Zona 18, which currently has a population of 4,751 persons. On 28 May, the Ombudsman criticised the lack of protective equipment and sanitary products such as antibacterial gel, masks, and gloves in the country’s 21 prisons.
- Instituto Guatemalteco de Migracion, Global Detention Project Covid-19 Survey, 9 June 2020, http://igm.gob.gt/
- R. M. Lima, “Guatemala: Traen los Deportados el Coronavirus?,” DW, 22 May 2020, https://www.dw.com/es/guatemala-traen-los-deportados-el-coronavirus/a-53538482
- M. G. Diaz, “Coronavirus en Guatemala: los Contagios de Covid-19 entre Migrantes que Llevaron al Pais a Suspender los Vuelos de Deportados desde EE.UU.,” BBC News, 21 April 2020, https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52364025
- P. Flores, “Laura y el Miedo a Que Su Esposo Muera por Covid-19 en Carcel de la Zona 18,” Nomada, 6 June 2020, https://nomada.gt/pais/actualidad/laura-y-el-miedo-a-que-su-esposo-muera-por-covid-19-en-carcel-de-la-zona-18/
- EFE, “El Covid-19 Amenaza las Carceles de Guatemala con Casos Positivos y Muerte,” El Diario.es, 28 May 2020, https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/COVID-19-amenaza-carceles-Guatemala-positivos_0_1032048004.html
- M. J. Longo, “Relatores Consideran que las Carceles de Quetzaltenango son Vulnerables a Contagios de Covid-19,” Prensa Libre, 13 May 2020, https://www.prensalibre.com/ciudades/quetzaltenango/relatores-consideran-que-carceles-de-quetzaltenango-son-vulnerables-a-contagios-de-covid-19/
10 June 2020

Responding to the Global Detention Project’s Covid-19 survey, Guatemala’s immigration authority (Instituto Guatealteco de Migración) reported that no moratorium on new immigration detention orders has been established. The Guatemalan immigration authority also reported that currently only Guatemalan national residents and accredited consular diplomats are allowed to enter the country. Non-citizens are only allowed to leave the country and are prohibited from entering.
According to news reports, on 20 April, more than 5,000 Guatemalan nationals were in the custody of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) in the United States. Of these, almost 4,000 were detained for immigration reasons and more than 1,000 were children. Deportations from the United States to Guatemala have not been suspended and from 29 March to 22 May, 1,200 undocumented migrants have been deported. On 11 May, official statistics reported that 102 contaminated migrants had been deported back to Guatemala.
The Guatemalan government has suspended several deportation flights and requested that the United States provide a health certificate for every deportee attesting that they are clear from Covid-19. However, according to the president of the “Cooperacion Migrante” organisation, migrants carrying the virus continue to arrive as the United States is carrying out Covid-19 tests at random. In addition, Douglas Gonzales, an academic and political analyst, said that the main obstacle to controlling the importation of Covid-19 cases is not in deportations from the USA but rather that the country does “not have the capacity to control migratory flows on a land border as large as the one with Mexico.”
The Guatemalan Ombudsman (Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos Guatemalteca) criticised the government for the conditions in which returned migrants were held in a makeshift reception centre located in the Guatemala City airport. The BBC reported that returnees were only given mats to sleep on the floor of a room inside the airport (see image).
Guatemalan prisons hold 26,160 persons with 52 percent of prisoners serving prison sentences and 48% placed on remand. On 5 June, the Ministry of Health of Guatemala confirmed the death of two prisoners from Covid-19 in the Centro de Detencion Preventiva para Hombres de la Zona 18, which currently has a population of 4,751 persons. On 28 May, the Ombudsman criticised the lack of protective equipment and sanitary products such as antibacterial gel, masks and gloves, in the country’s 21 prisons.
On 13 May, Prensa Libre reported that the National Preventive Mechanism (the national office for the prevention of torture) conducted visits in the Quetzaltenango prisons, hospitals and “migration centres” which hold returned migrants. According to the national office, the Cantel Prison has 2,312 prisoners and is vastly overcrowded, running at around 200% of its capacity. There are very few sanitary measures in place and there is a lack of hygienic products.
- Instituto Guatemalteco de Migracion, Global Detention Project Covid-19 Survey, 9 June 2020.
- R, M. Lima, “Guatemala: Traen los Deportados el Coronavirus?,” DW, 22 May 2020, https://www.dw.com/es/guatemala-traen-los-deportados-el-coronavirus/a-53538482
- M. G. Diaz, “Coronavirus en Guatemala: los Contagios de Covid-19 entre Migrantes que Llevaron al Pais a Suspender los Vuelos de Deportados desde EE.UU.,” BBC News, 21 April 2020, https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52364025
- P. Flores, “Laura y el Miedo a Que Su Esposo Muera por Covid-19 en Carcel de la Zona 18,” Nomada, 6 June 2020, https://nomada.gt/pais/actualidad/laura-y-el-miedo-a-que-su-esposo-muera-por-covid-19-en-carcel-de-la-zona-18/
- EFE, “El Covid-19 Amenaza las Carceles de Guatemala con Casos Positivos y Muerte,” El Diario.es, 28 May 2020, https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/COVID-19-amenaza-carceles-Guatemala-positivos_0_1032048004.html
- M. J. Longo, “Relatores Consideran que las Carceles de Quetzaltenango son Vulnerables a Contagios de Covid-19,” Prensa Libre, 13 May 2020, https://www.prensalibre.com/ciudades/quetzaltenango/relatores-consideran-que-carceles-de-quetzaltenango-son-vulnerables-a-contagios-de-covid-19/
- Mattresses on the Floor of the Guatemala City Airport, Placed for Returned Migrants, (PDH Guatemala, "Coronavirus en Guatemala: los contagios de covid-19 entre migrantes que llevaron al país a suspender los vuelos de deportados desde EE.UU.," BBC News, 21 April 2020, https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52364025)
20 April 2020

On 19 April 2020, Guatemalan President, Alejandro Giammattei, stated that a total of 50 migrants deported by the United States to Guatemala have tested positive for Covid-19. Human Rights advocates had been warning for weeks that deportation flights from the United States, the country with the largest known number of Covid-19 cases, could spread the virus to other nations. Amnesty International’s advocacy director for the Americas stated that the situation was “as predictable as it is horrifying … It was just a matter of time that this would happen.” This situation had already occurred a few weeks before. At the end of March 2020, a Guatemalan man who was deported from the United States tested positive for Covid-19 although he was asymptomatic at the time of deportation.
- Reuters, “Guatemala Says 50 Deported Migrants from U.S. Test Positive for Coronavirus,” 20 April 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-guatemala-deportees/guatemala-says-50-deported-migrants-from-us-test-positive-for-coronavirus-idUSL1N2C800Z
- N. Gallon, “44 Migrants on One Deportation Flight Tested Positive for Coronavirus,” CNN, 17 April 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/17/americas/us-migrants-guatemala-coronavirus/index.html
- M. Mendoza & C. E. Shoichet, “The US Deported Him. Days Later, her was Hospitalised with Coronavirus,” CNN, 30 March 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/30/americas/immigration-guatemala-deportee-coronavirus/index.html
- Health Workers Bringing in Supplies Deliveries by Family Members to a Temporary Shelter for Guatemalan Citizens Deported from the United States, (17 April 2020, CNN, "44 Migrants on One US Deportation Flight Tested Positive for Coronavirus", https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/17/americas/us-migrants-guatemala-coronavirus/index.html)
- Global Detention Project, "Immigration Detention in Guatemala," https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/countries/americas/guatemala
Last updated: February 2016
Guatemala Immigration Detention Profile
- Introduction
- Laws, Policies, and Practices
- Detention Infrastructure
- PDF of 2016 Profile
INTRODUCTION
Situated at the axis between North and South America and wracked by poverty and conflict, Guatemala is both an important source of migrants and asylum seekers as well as a crucial transit country. Some 1.5 million Guatemalans live in the United States and approximately 300,000 people transit the country every year. In addition, Guatemala hosts roughly 76,000 foreign nationals, most of whom come from neighbouring Central American countries.[1] The country has also hosted significant numbers of so-called extraregional migrants from Colombia, China, India, and Ecuador, among other countries. The majority of foreigners living in Guatemala are undocumented.[2]
Because of its key role in the regional migration phenomenon, Guatemala has long been pressured by other countries in the region, mainly Mexico and the United States, to halt the movement of foreigners across its borders. Reports indicate that since as far back as the late 1990s, U.S. immigration authorities have helped support, sometimes with financial assistance, the apprehension and detention of third-country nationals in Guatemala.[3] The country’s detention facilities, which it euphemistically terms “shelters” (or centros de albergue), have included dilapidated former hotels as well as naval bases.
LAW, POLICIES, AND PRACTICES
The 1998 Migration Law (Ley de Migración, Decree 95-98) and the 1999 Migration Regulation (Reglamento de Migración) provide the legal framework for migration management in Guatemala, including grounds for immigration-related detention, which is euphemistically referred to as albergar (to shelter or accommodate). The 2001 Refugee Regulation (Reglamento para la protección y determinación del Estatuto de Refugiado en el Territorio del Estado de Guatemala) establishes refugee protection and status determination procedures.
Observers have criticized these laws for failing to provide procedural guarantees or adequate guidance on the application of discretion when treating undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. These legal lacunae, they argue, lead to arbitrary decision-making and enable corruption and abuse.[4]
The General Directorate for Migration (Dirección General de Migración), an agency of the Interior Ministry (Ministerio de Gobernación), is empowered—along with the police—to apprehend non-citizens and has custodial authority over immigration detainees.[5] The directorate has repeatedly been the target of corruption allegations.[6]
Grounds for detention. Non-citizens who enter or stay in the country without authorization may be subject to a fine, deportation, or expulsion. Article 111 of the Migration Law provides that the Directorate General for Migration may “accommodate” (albergar) non-citizens who do not have required travel documents in designated centres (centros destinados especialmente para este fin), which are misleadingly called “accommodation centres” or “shelters” (centros de albergue). Other countries in the region use similar euphemisms, including Mexico (estacion migratoria), Honduras (centro especiale de atencion), Nicaragua (centro de albergue de migrantes), and El Salvador (centro de atención integral para el migrante).
According to some reports, immigration authorities systematically apply detention measures. [7] However, given the small numbers of officially reported detainees (see below) it seems unlikely that all detected or apprehended undocumented travellers are placed in immigration detention.
Official statistics. According to statistics from the Directorate General for Migration, in 2015 563 non-citizens were detained at Guatemala’s sole detention centre, 526 in 2014, 341 in 2013, and 308 in 2012.[8] It is unclear if these numbers represent all immigration-related detentions as they refer uniquely to the “albergue” in Guatemala City. They also appear to diverge from reports made by non-governmental organizations, which have reported much higher numbers of detainees dating back to the mid-2000s. For instance, during the period January-October 2005, 3,020 migrants were reportedly apprehended and placed in detention; during the same period in 2006, 1,478.[9]
While the official number of migrants detained annually has been rising during the past few years, these figures are comparatively low considering the migratory and political pressures faced by Guatemala. Neighbouring Honduras, which is also an important source and transit country for migrants, detained 2,526 migrants in 2013 and 1,198 in 2012.
According to official sources, between 2012-2015 the largest number of detainees were from El Salvador (420), followed by Honduras (348), Nicaragua (332), Ecuador (160), and Cuba (103). In addition, during this four-year period, the detention centre in Guatemala City confined 79 migrants from Nepal, 86 from China, 40 from India, and 33 from Bangladesh. The total number of detainees comprised 206 women in 2015, 296 women in 2014, 181 women in 2013, and 210 women in 2012.[10] In 2009 the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants noted that the majority of detainees were between 18 and 29 years old.[11]
Length of detention. The Migration Law does not set a limit to the length of detention. Those most impacted by this legal gap have been migrants and asylum seekers from outside the region—including people from India, China, Nepal, and Uzbekistan—whose home countries do not have consular representation in Guatemala.[12] People from South American countries like Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela have also faced lengthy periods in immigration detention because their consular representatives refuse to assist in covering deportation costs.[13] Thus, while people from Central America are reportedly detained for at most a few days, migrants from other continents can be kept in the detention for up to 10 months.[14]
Procedural guarantees. Deportation procedures are to be subject to a hearing (Migration Law, article 113). However, because the law does not explicitly mention the word “detention” the legislation lacks any provisions for reviewing detention measures. There is no right to appeal, legal or linguistic assistance, or alternatives to detention. There are similar gaps in Honduras because the immigration legislation also fails to explicitly regulate it.
Article 116 of the Migration Law vaguely mentions that appeals of migration-related decisions are regulated by the Law on Administrative Litigation. Yet, it is not clear whether detention is covered by this provision and sources in Guatemala told the Global Detention Project that it was unclear the extent to which efforts have been made to apply this law in court.[15] In 2014 the International Detention Coalition reported that there was no judicial control over immigration detention and that authorities were not willing to allow civil society organizations to provide legal assistance to detainees.[16]
Detainees are reportedly informed about the reasons they are in custody. Yet, this information is not necessarily conveyed in a language they understand. Guatemala’s main detention centre does not employ a translator so detainees do not have access to linguistic assistance.[17] Detainees can request privately paid legal advice.[18]
Apprehensions. Apprehension operations are carried out jointly by the Directorate General for Migration and the police. These operations are justified as combatting petty criminality. In 2005, the directorate reported that there were 137 apprehension operations; it reported 180 in 2006. Operations are often carried out in bars or nightclubs in the capital, Guatemala City. In 2006, these operations resulted in the apprehension of 1,759 non-citizens, of whom 98 percent were women. The most frequent countries origin of apprehended migrants were Nicaragua (498), El Salvador (392), Ecuador (346), Honduras (315), and Peru (102).[19]
According to civil society sources in Guatemala, breaches of fundamental rights are common during apprehension operations. People who appear to be victims of trafficking are often not treated with proper care, officials neglect to document if minors are taken into custody, and there is a lack of female staff to carry out body searches when women are apprehended.[20]
Cooperation with the United States. Guatemalan security services, including military and immigration officers, have collaborated for decades with U.S. officials to prevent and interdict irregular migration on land and sea.
Non-governmental sources claim that since 2001, when Guatemala authorized the United State to patrol its Pacific coastline, the U.S. Coast Guard has played an integral role patrolling Guatemalan territorial waters. This agreement was prompted by increases in the numbers of migrants travelling by sea, mainly from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Since the United States began these patrolling operations, interceptions and detentions have reportedly gone up. [21]
The U.S. collaboration resulted in Guatemala’s Naval Pacific Base being used as a place of detention, even though this is at odds with the Migration Law, which provides that the institution empowered to conduct migration-related operations is solely the Directorate General for Migration and the only detention facilities are designated “albergues.”[22]
Journalistic accounts also have detailed collaborative migration control initiatives, which are often framed as “anti-smuggling” operations. One report from 2002 cites a press release from the former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) that reported that a multi-lateral anti-smuggling operation, which took place in 2001 and involved several Latin American countries, had been “the largest, most successful operation of its kind.” The operation, called “Crossroads International,” reportedly resulted in the arrest of some 8,000 migrants and 75 smugglers in 12 Latin American countries. The INS claimed that law enforcement agents from Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, and Peru participated in the operation.[23]
Reports also indicate that the U.S. Coast Guard’s interventions in Guatemalan waters on migration matters date back to the early 1990s. An official with the Guatemalan government’s human rights defenders office (the Procuraduría de Derechos Humanos, or PDH) said in a 2001 interview: “When the [U.S. Coast Guard] intercepts [migrant smuggling] boats, it often asks Guatemala to accept the migrants on humanitarian grounds. But it really isn’t for that. The fact is, other countries either don’t accept U.S. policies or don’t want the migrants, so the United States turns to Guatemala.”[24]
The PDH official also questioned the legality of some of the detentions. He pointed to a case in March 2001 when the U.S. Coast Guard, working with the U.S. Navy, intercepted an Ecuadorian fishing vessel in international waters off the coast of Costa Rica that was carrying some 220 undocumented migrants from Ecuador. According to a PDH report about the case, after the boat was escorted to Guatemala’s Puerto Quetzal, the U.S. embassy asked that nation’s vice president to have the five crew members detained. Guatemala’s migration authority subsequently brought charges against the crew members, accusing them of illegally bringing people into the country—although the boat had been detained in international waters. A judge threw out the case, but the DGM refused to release the crew. They remained in detention for several months before reportedly escaping.[25]
Asylum seekers. Asylum seekers are generally not detained. If a non-citizen applies for asylum after being taken into custody, the person is supposed to be released. Once released, asylum seekers have to renew their permits every ten days.[26]
Vulnerable persons. Accompanied children are detained with their families while unaccompanied minors have generally been accommodated in alternative facilities. According to the official statistics, between 2012-2015 there were four children detained alongside their parents.[27] Until early 2009 undocumented children tended to be accommodated at Casa Allianza Guatemala during identification proceedings. Since the closure of the shelter due to lack of funds there apparently have been no places that can offer specialized care for unaccompanied children in irregular situation. These children appear to be accommodated in shelters for minors managed by the state or NGOs.[28]
Sources told the Global Detention Project that there are three shelters for unaccompanied girls in Guatemala City, one managed by the Social Welfare Secretariat called Hogar Securo and the other two by the Asociación La Alianza y Asociación El Refugio de la Niñez.[29]
Until December 2015, women victims of trafficking were accommodated in Albergue Luz de Esperanza, managed by the Social Welfare Secretariat. Since its closure, no other facility has been opened, raising the possibility that trafficking victims could end up being placed in detention centres.[30]
Criminalization. The Migration Law does not criminalize irregular stay or entry per se. What is punished with imprisonment are acts related to facilitation of entry and transit of undocumented migrants thought the country (Migration Law, article 103-108).
Designated sites of detention and authorities. Article 111 of the Migration Law provides that the Directorate General for Migration may establish or authorize facilities for use as detention centres (or centros de albergue). The provision specifies that the centres are to comply with minimum conditions. Police are to provide security at the centres (Migration Regulation, article 96).
The Migration Law (article 111) also stipulates that the Directorate General for Migration may enlist the services of non-profit organisations to provide assistance for migrants in transit.
Under article 96 of the Migration Regulation, any organization authorized by the Directorate General for Migration to manage an albergue has to comply with the following obligations: a) give written notice per fax to the Directorate General for Migration’s Department of Immigration Control (Subdirección de Control Migratorio) of all foreigners who enter the centre; b) provide access to the directorate so it can establish the immigration status of detainees; c) and allow the police to provide security.
Access to detainees. The Human Rights Ombudsman (Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos) appears to be the only institution allowed to enter the detention centre in Guatemala City. However its access is reportedly limited.[31] In addition there are number of human rights organizations, including Mesa Nacional para las Migraciones en Guatemala (MENAMIG), that seek to assist migrants and detainees.
DETENTION INFRASTRUCTURE
Guatemala currently operates one albergue as a detention centre. The facility, which is located in “zona 5” of Guatemala City and has been in use since 2007, reportedly has a capacity of 100 and can accommodate both men and women.[32]
The locations and modalities of detention centres have changed several times over the years and the government has at times received U.S. financial assistance to operate detention centres.
In 2001, after joint anti-smuggling operations with the United States resulted in large increases on the number of detainees, the Guatemalan government appealed to the U.S. Embassy for support. In a July 2001 letter to the U.S. ambassador, the country’s migration chief wrote: “Taking into consideration that migration is an international problem, I appeal to you for humanitarian aid to help avoid this immigration and thereby contribute to the American dream that they desire and to contribute as well to national security. The aid that we ask for consists in helping us rent [shelters] and to pay for flight tickets to transport undocumented people back to their countries of origin.”[33]
The United States reportedly responded favorably to this request. A U.S. embassy press attaché said in an interview at the time: "The decision to support this request was made on the basis of the needs of the migrants. They need to be housed and cared for, and the question was what can we do to make sure there is a place for them to stay as their nationality is being established. That was the concern; that was what we tried to accomplish."[34]
The U.S. funded detention efforts received enormous critical attention in Guatemala, although only one newspaper in the United States picked up the story, the Miami Herald. The Herald carried a small article in its inside pages reporting on the death of a migrant from India at a U.S:-funded facility who committed suicide after spending months in detention and having little prospect to get to his hoped for destination, the United States.[35]
Margarita Hurtado, a member of a Guatemalan migrants rights group, described for a journalist the conditions at the two U.S.-funded detention centers, which were eventually closed down: "After they initiated [the anti-smuggling operation] ‘Coyote 2001,’ the centres were filled with people from everywhere—from Ecuador, India, Peru, Syria, Cuba. In one space there were 40 people … there was no light, no air. They were worse than our jails."[36]
When the reporter asked an official at the INS regional office in Mexico City whether the U.S. funded facilities had been inspected by U.S. officials, the official said: “We determined that the facilities Guatemala was using were not acceptable. Guatemala is now looking at another location to build a new detention center, which will be almost like a model for Central America. … I sent my deputy director to check it out because we are greatly concerned.”[37]
Among the facilities that were used by the Directorate General for Migration at the time were several dilapidated former hotels located in “zona 1” of Guatemala City, including Hotel Brasilia, Hotel Capri and Hotel Espana. These places did not offer basic material conditions to detainees. The argument of the authorities to stop these detention arrangements was that they did not allow adequate security and surveillance measures. The Directorate General for Migration then established a new detention centre (called albergue) in a different part (“zona 9”) of Guatemala City. This detention centre also attracted criticism because of its inadequate conditions.[38]
Albergue in “zona 5.” The current detention centre, located in “zona 5” of Guatemala City, confines women and men on the second and third floors, respectively. Both floors have a similar set-up and are divided in two sections. Each floor has a common area that is equipped with tables and chairs, TV and air-conditioning. The sleeping areas have 25 bunk beds. A roof terrace is used as a recreation space, which immigration detainees can occasionally access, men and women separately. There is a laundry building located on the terrace, which is used for detaining families. Immigration detainees have access to medical assistance once a week.[39] The building is secured by metal bars on the windows, electrical wires, and armed police officers.[40]
Conditions at the centre have been repeatedly criticized. In 2008 the Defensoría de Población Desarraigada y Migrante of the Human Rights Ombudsman (Procuraduría de los Derechos Humanos) visited the centre and found serious shortcomings, including inadequate ventilation, lack of means of communication (telephones), insufficient recreation space, and inadequate rooms to meet consular representatives.[41]
In 2011, the UN Committee on Migrant Workers expressed concern over reports about prolonged detention of non-citizens from outside the region in the centre, the failure to appoint interpreters, inadequate conditions, in particular the lack of open spaces and ventilation for migrants, as well as limited access to basic social services. In addition, the committee was concerned about the lack of information on the number of immigration detainees, given the considerable number of migrants who transit through Guatemala every year. The committee urged Guatemala to improve conditions at the facility, ensuring the provision of basic social services, including food, health care and hygienic conditions. It also encouraged the state to expedite exit procedures and to ensure that men and women are duly separated.[42]
[1] United Nationas Deportment o Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, International Migration Wallchart, 2015, http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/wallchart/index.shtml.
[2] GRUPO ARTICULADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL PARA LA ELABORACIÓN DEL INFORME ALTERNATIVO, Informe alternativo de Guatemala Sobre la aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre la Protección de los Derechos de todos los Trabajadores Migratorios y de sus Familiares, October 2010,
[3] See, for instance, Michael Flynn, “Dónde Esta La Frontera?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientots, Juyl/Augusts 2002, http://www.globaldetentionproject.org/sites/default/files/fileadmin/publications/Flynn_frontera.pdf.
[4] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[5] Instituto de Estudios Políticos para América Latina y África and Médicos Sin Fronteras, Informacion comparada sobre detencion de solicitantes de asilo en Centroamerica y Caribe, 2007, http://www.gloobal.net/iepala/gloobal/fichas/ficha.php?entidad=Textos&id=4303&opcion=documento#ficha_gloobal.
[6] Isabel Rosales, "Public Officials and the Migration Industry in Guatemala: Greasing the Wheels of a Corrupt Machine," in Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen and Ninna Nyberg Sørensen (eds.), The Migration Industry and the Commercialization of International Migration, Routledge, 2013, 215-237.
[7] International Detention Coalition (IDC). INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS. October 2014.
[8] Direccion General de Migracion, Reporte estadistica anual de personas extranjeras albergadas por la Direccion General de Migracion ano 2012-2015.
[9] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[10] Direccion General de Migracion, Reporte estadistica anual de personas extranjeras albergadas por la Direccion General de Migracion ano 2012-2015.
[11] Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Sr. Jorge Bustamante, Adición: MISIÓN A GUATEMALA, A/HRC/11/7/Add.3, March 2009, http://www.ohchr.org.gt/cd_instrumentos/documentos/Migra.pdf.
[12] Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015 ; GRUPO ARTICULADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL PARA LA ELABORACIÓN DEL INFORME ALTERNATIVO, Informe alternativo de Guatemala Sobre la aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre la Protección de los Derechos de todos los Trabajadores Migratorios y de sus Familiares, October 2010,
http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCMW%2fNGO%2fGTM%2f15%2f8967&Lang=en; and Instituto de Estudios Políticos para América Latina y África and Médicos Sin Fronteras, Informacion comparada sobre detencion de solicitantes de asilo en Centroamerica y Caribe, 2007, http://www.gloobal.net/iepala/gloobal/fichas/ficha.php?entidad=Textos&id=4303&opcion=documento#ficha_gloobal.
[13] Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015 ; and GRUPO ARTICULADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL PARA LA ELABORACIÓN DEL INFORME ALTERNATIVO, Informe alternativo de Guatemala Sobre la aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre la Protección de los Derechos de todos los Trabajadores Migratorios y de sus Familiares, October 2010,
[14] International Detention Coalition (IDC), INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS, October 2014.
[15] Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015.
[16] International Detention Coalition (IDC), INFORME REGIONAL DETENCIÓN MIGRATORIA Y ALTERNATIVAS A LA DETENCIÓN EN LAS AMÉRICAS, October 2014.
[17] GRUPO ARTICULADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL PARA LA ELABORACIÓN DEL INFORME ALTERNATIVO, Informe alternativo de Guatemala Sobre la aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre la Protección de los Derechos de todos los Trabajadores Migratorios y de sus Familiares, October 2010.
[18] Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015.
[19] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[20] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[21] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[22] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana
[23] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[24] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[25] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[26] Instituto de Estudios Políticos para América Latina y África and Médicos Sin Fronteras, Informacion comparada sobre detencion de solicitantes de asilo en Centroamerica y Caribe, 2007, http://www.gloobal.net/iepala/gloobal/fichas/ficha.php?entidad=Textos&id=4303&opcion=documento#ficha_gloobal.
[27] Direccion General de Migracion, Reporte estadistica anual de personas extranjeras albergadas por la Direccion General de Migracion ano 2012-2015.
[28] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana.
Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015.
[29] Undisclosed source, email correspondance with Michael Flynn (Global Detention Project), February 2016.
[30] Undisclosed source, email correspondance with Michael Flynn (Global Detention Project), February 2016.
[31] Instituto de Estudios Políticos para América Latina y África and Médicos Sin Fronteras, Informacion comparada sobre detencion de solicitantes de asilo en Centroamerica y Caribe, 2007, http://www.gloobal.net/iepala/gloobal/fichas/ficha.php?entidad=Textos&id=4303&opcion=documento#ficha_gloobal.
[32] Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Sr. Jorge Bustamante, Adición: MISIÓN A GUATEMALA, A/HRC/11/7/Add.3, March 2009, http://www.ohchr.org.gt/cd_instrumentos/documentos/Migra.pdf and Undisclosed source, email correspondance with Michael Flynn (Global Detention Project), February 2016.
[33] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[34] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[35] Cited in Michael Flynn, “Dónde Esta La Frontera?” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientots, Juyl/Augusts 2002, http://www.globaldetentionproject.org/sites/default/files/fileadmin/publications/Flynn_frontera.pdf.
[36] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[37] Michael Flynn, " U.S. Anti-Migration Efforts Move South,” Americas Program, 3 July 2002, http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/1066.
[38] Carol L. Girón Solórzano, “Estudio Migratorio de Guatemala,” in Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Sociales y Desarrollo (INCEDES) and Sin Fronteras (Eds.), Estudio comparativo de la legislación y políticas migratorias en Centroamérica, México y República Dominicana, November 2011, http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/index.php/es/publicaciones/de-sin-fronteras/informes-anuales-2/14-informes-tematicos/380-estudio-comparativo-de-la-legislacion-y-politicas-migratorias-en-centroamerica-mexico-y-republica-dominicana.
Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Informe del Relator Especial sobre los derechos humanos de los migrantes, Sr. Jorge Bustamante, Adición: MISIÓN A GUATEMALA, A/HRC/11/7/Add.3, March 2009, http://www.ohchr.org.gt/cd_instrumentos/documentos/Migra.pdf.
[39] Undisclosed source, Global Detention Project Questionnaire : Guatemala, November 2015.
[40] GRUPO ARTICULADOR DE LA SOCIEDAD CIVIL PARA LA ELABORACIÓN DEL INFORME ALTERNATIVO, Informe alternativo de Guatemala Sobre la aplicación de la Convención Internacional sobre la Protección de los Derechos de todos los Trabajadores Migratorios y de sus Familiares, October 2010,
[41] Procurador de los Derechos Humanos, Defensoría Población Desarraigada y Migrante, Informe Monitoreo Albergue, 2008.
[42] Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families: Guatemala, CMW/C/GTM/CO/1, 18 October 2011, http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CMW%2fC%2fGTM%2fCO%2f1&Lang=en.
ENFORCEMENT DATA
POPULATION DATA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS
B. Attitudes and Perceptions
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
DETENTION MONITORS
TRANSPARENCY
READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS
COVID-19
HEALTH CARE
COVID-19 DATA
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Individual Complaints Procedures
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Visits by Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council
Relevant Recommendations by UN Special Procedures
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Government Agencies
Directorate General of Migration: http://www.migracion.gob.gt/
Ombudsman: http://www.pdh.org.gt/
National Council for Migrants (CONAMIGUA): http://www.conamigua.gob.gt/
International Organisations
UNHCR Guatemale Country Information: http://www.unhcr.org/guatemala.html
IOM Guatemala Country Information: https://www.iom.int/countries/guatemala
Media
Prensa Libre: http://www.prensalibre.com/
NGOs and Research Institutions
Mesa Nacional para las Migraciones en Guatemala (MENAMIG): http://www.menamig.org/