Police in El Salvador releases Guidelines for assisting migrant children in border areas

El Salvador. On Thursday August 23, 2018, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Directorate of Border Security of the Civil National Police released a series of Guidelines for assisting migrant children and their families in border areas in El Salvador.

These guidelines were developed in cooperation with the National Council on Childhood and Adolescence (CONNA), the Salvadoran Institute for Comprehensive Assistance for Children and Adolescents (ISNA), the General Directorate of Migration and the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Republic, among others.

The Chief of Mission of IOM in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, Jorge Peraza, commented:“As IOM, and through the Mesoamerica Program, we have supported various processes including specialized courses on migrant children, the creation of assistance protocols, and border and cross-border dialogues to improve protection mechanisms.” IOM has likewise participated in the delivery of hygiene kits and food to recipients in vulnerable situations in border areas.

“Here children and adolescents benefit from temporary housing, food, medical and sanitary attention, as well as physical protection and shelter,” explained the director of the Police, Howard Cotto.

The Mesoamerica Program has supported capacity building through trainings for Police staff on the country’s different borders. Approximately 400 people have been trained during the different phases of the Program on the topics of unaccompanied or separated migrant children, the LGBTI population and migration, migration and youth, and human trafficking, among others.

“We reaffirm our commitment to continue working with the Police for more humane, more orderly, and safer migration for children and adolescents,” concluded Peraza.