The extreme poverty and lack of jobs which have pushed an estimated
one million Nicaraguans to leave their country in search of a
better life, is the focus of a new IOM video available to
broadcasters.

With a population of 5.6 million, an annual population growth
rate of 2.7 per cent, and 53 per cent of its population under 18
years of age, Nicaragua faces an enormous challenge to overcome
poverty, especially affecting women, as one in every four
households is headed by a woman.

The footage, shot in the capital Managua and on the border with
Costa Rica, shows Nicaraguans preparing to leave the country in
search of greener pastures.

Captain Lenin Flores, Head of Nicaragua's Peñas Blancas
border post separating Nicaragua from Costa Rica and the busiest in
the country with up to 15,000 crossings per day during the high
season, says:  "These people are not delinquents. They are
people looking for a better life.  They take the risk in order
to get a job, to find a better life, but they leave without
documents."

Less than five minutes from the official border crossing,
Juanita, Excel and their two children walk down a narrow dirt track
loaded with suitcases.  They boarded a bus in their hometown
of Estelí at three in the morning and seven hours later
arrived at Peñas Blancas. From here they have another couple
of hours walk under oppressive heat and humidity to try and cross
illegally into Costa Rica.

Eighteen-year-old Juanita says the economic situation is very
difficult in Nicaragua.  "Salaries are low and we have two
children, so we can't manage," Juanita explains.

In the past three decades, migration flows from Nicaragua to
Costa Rica have been prompted by natural disasters, political
conflicts and economic downturns.  For unskilled workers,
Costa Rica acts as a magnet by offering abundant work in sectors
that are becoming less and less attractive to the native population
– mainly agriculture, construction and domestic work.

Although the exact numbers are not available, estimates point to
some 250,000 Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica on a permanent
basis.  A similar number is estimated to be in the country in
an irregular fashion, working in seasonal jobs and returning home
once the work is over.

Costa Rica has seen a marked increase in the demand for labour
in the service sector, which the local population has readily
filled, leaving behind back-breaking work such as coffee picking,
harvesting sugar cane, citrus and other fruits, as well as domestic
work and construction.

Government officials and civil society organizations agree that
lack of information on human trafficking and migrant smuggling
allows smugglers and traffickers to continue to prey on innocent
victims and desperate men and women whose only quest is to find a
better life for them and their families.

The script/shotlist and video which is available in natural
sound with soundbites in Spanish, can be downloaded from the IOM
website at: "http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1234" target=
"_blank" title=
"">http://www.quicklink.tv/IOM/download.asp?Clip_ID=1234

For more information please contact:

Berta Fernandez

IOM Nicaragua

Tel: + 505 278 95 69

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