{"id":32678,"date":"2018-10-26T18:16:22","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T18:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/26\/caravan-explainer-migrants-travel-in-groups-for-a-simple-reason-safety\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:14:17","slug":"caravan-explainer-migrants-travel-in-groups-for-a-simple-reason-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/10\/26\/caravan-explainer-migrants-travel-in-groups-for-a-simple-reason-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Caravan explainer: Migrants travel in groups for a simple reason (safety)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A caravan of Central American migrants traveling to through Mexico to the United States to seek asylum<\/a> is about halfway through its journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caravan began on Oct. 13 in Honduras with 200 people. As it has moved through Honduras, Guatemala and now Mexico, its ranks have grown to over 7,000, according to an estimate by the International Organization of Migration<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The migrants have been joined by representatives from humanitarian organizations like the Mexican Red Cross<\/a> providing medical assistance and human rights groups<\/a> that monitor the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists are there, too, and their reporting has caught the attention of President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has claimed<\/a> that the caravan\u2019s ranks probably hide Middle Eastern terrorists. Trump later acknowledged there is no evidence of this, but conservative media outlets have nevertheless spread the message<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is reasonable for Americans to have security concerns about immigration. But as a scholar of forced migration<\/a>, I believe it\u2019s also important to consider why migrants travel in groups: their own safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Honduran migrants David Cruz, 18, right, his wife Scarlet Romero, 16, holding their 3-month-old son David Ezequiel, pose for a photo on Oct. 18. They’re accompanied by another migrant as they leave Guatemala City with a caravan of thousands. Scarlet and David say the left a home where they were harassed by gangs and were without job opportunities. Romero said she left behind a 2-year-old daughter with her grandmother. (Moises Castillo\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Central Americans in the caravan, like hundreds of thousands of people who flee the region<\/a> each year, are escaping extreme violence<\/a>, lack of economic opportunity and growing environmental problems, including drought and floods<\/a>, back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guatemala<\/a>, Honduras <\/a>and Mexico <\/a>have some of the world\u2019s highest murder rates. According to Doctors Without Borders<\/a>, which provides medical care in crisis zones, 68 percent of the migrants and refugees it surveyed in Mexico had experienced violence. Nearly one-third of women were sexually abused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether crossing Central America, the Sahara desert or the mountains of Afghanistan, migrants are regularly extorted by criminals<\/a>, militias and corrupt immigration officials who know migrants make easy targets: They carry cash but not weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large groups increase migrants\u2019 chance of safe passage, and they provide some sense of community and solidarity on the journey, as migrants themselves report<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t