El Salvador - IOM today presented USD 3,000 of supplies and equipment to the Casa del Migrante (House of the Migrant) at Ocotepeque, the only shelter in Honduras that supports migrants in transit from countries such as Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua.

The donation, which included fans, pillows and mattresses, folding tables and chairs and other equipment to be used in the shelter, was part of IOM’s US State Department PRM-funded regional project: Strengthening Capacities for the Protection and Assistance to Migrants in Vulnerable Situations in Mesoamerica.

IOM has been working with the Casa del Migrante since 2013, providing basic supplies, as well as staff training on human rights.  Beneficiaries have included unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents, and pregnant teenagers; victims of trafficking; extra-regional migrants with special protection needs; victims of abduction and social violence; and LGBTI migrants.

Casa del Migrante de Ocotepeque, located near the Agua Caliente border, was inaugurated in 1996 by the Human Mobility Pastoral. It helps approximately 100 migrants a month.

For more information, please contact Alba Miriam Amaya at IOM El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, Tel: +503 2521-0556, Email: aamaya@iom.int