A theatre production aimed at raising awareness of the dangers of
irregular migration among Nicaraguans opens today in Managua.

Sponsored by IOM, El Cruce or The Crossing, which is produced by
the Justo Rufino Garay Theater and funded by the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation and Development (AECID by its Spanish
acronym), tackles the phenomenon of migration which affects 60 per
cent of Nicaraguan families.

With more than one million of its nationals living outside the
country, Nicaragua is one of the main countries of origin in the
region for irregular migration, mainly to Costa Rica, El Salvador,
USA, Panama and Spain.

El Cruce weaves together personal stories of those who have left
in search of better economic opportunities, others en route, and
the families left behind.

The production looks at women heads of households looking for a
better life for their families, qualified young adults hoping for a
more promising future and adolescents aching to leave behind their
social and cultural reality.

But the story also portrays the violence inflicted by human
smugglers and the abuse of power by some law enforcement
officials.

Of the estimated 500,000 migrants from Latin America who cross
Mexico each year on their way to the United States, thousands are
from Nicaragua.  As they make their irregular journey north
they are exposed to horrendous abuse including exploitation, rape,
kidnapping and even death.

"The killing of 15 Nicaraguan migrants in Guatemala in 2008, the
murder of 72 migrants in Tamaulipas, Mexico, last August and the
kidnapping of 40 people in Oaxaca, Mexico, last December are just a
few of the headline incidents illustrating the horrific violence
suffered by men, women and children who set out on the perilous
journey north each day," explains Berta Fernandez, IOM Chief of
Mission in Nicaragua.

After its opening today, 4 February, at the Spanish Cultural
Centre in Managua, El Cruce will move to the José de La Cruz
Mena Theatre in the city of León on 10 February.

For more information, please contact:

Alessandra Pirera

IOM Nicaragua

Tel: + 505 2278 9569

E-mail: "mailto:apirera@iom.int">apirera@iom.int