In the communities of Mogato, Pungoloma, Tiliví and Cuatro Esquinas the population of young people has been reduced. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, migration has become an alternative chosen by young people to find a livelihood abroad.
Not only did some go to other large cities in the country, but a part chose to leave the country and try to enter the United States.
Without a job or a fixed income, young people from rural towns in Tungurahua left, reducing the workforce in agricultural sectors. Community leaders consulted refer that 40% of those who have left have done so as a family and 60% correspond to a young population.
The effects of migration are seen in different communities because for any activity or planning that is carried out there are no longer the same number of people, especially young people, said leaders.
Segundo Poalacín, president of the Indigenous Movement of Tungurahua (MIT), recognized that this is a weakness that they have at the moment, because even the young people were the ones who brought the ideas in the decision-making process. “Now there are more older people and women,” he commented.
Part of those who left in this pandemic did so to the United States, using routes through Mexico because that country did not ask for visas from Ecuadorians.
Since Mexico decided in September of last year to request a visa from Ecuadorians, the rate of travel to that country has dropped. It is believed that Mexico was part of the journey to later enter the United States illegally. “We have seen that it is calm and there is no migration like before,” said Poalacín.
Jaime Pacha, president of the parish council of Pasa, asserted that the previous year from this sector, as well as from other parishes, there was an important migratory wave, but that with the requirement of the visa to Mexico this effect was reduced, although he warns that indeed many young people left the communities.
The departure of young people from agricultural communities left some plots without young labor. Pacha indicated that older adults are those who have stayed in the communities to carry out, for example, agricultural work. That, he said, is something that worries them because in a few years there will be no one working on the land.
In rural communities, it is said that people from the same towns often act as recruiters for migrants to contact them with coyoteros. Poalacín commented that there were even approaches with community members because it was presumed that there were people who acted as recruiters.
The leader indicated that in the first instance the call for attention and warning has been made so that they do not continue with these activities. They were warned that if they continue with that attitude (as hookers) they will be subjected to indigenous justice.
In relation to the smugglers of the coyoteros in Pasa, Pacha commented that the issue of identifying those who do this work in the communities is quite complex, that names are known unofficially, but that it cannot be confirmed with certainty that this or that has been carrying out this activity.
A migratory explosion from before the pandemic
William Murillo, executive president of 1800Migrantes.com, commented that the explosion of irregular migration to the United States was not only in the last two years, as a result of many people losing their jobs due to the pandemic, but since 2018. When Mexico did not request a visa, there was a significant increase in Ecuadorians who traveled to that country and did not return.
“With the pandemic, this exploded due to the circumstances that occurred, since companies were closed in Ecuador and the economic situation became more difficult, so the non-requirement of a visa to enter Mexico was the opportunity to reach the United States. United,” he said.
He assured that in 2020 about 60,000 Ecuadorians were detained, expelled and deported from the United States border, while by 2021 it increased considerably to 97,000, statistics that are very distant from previous years in which there was an average of 12,000 compatriots per year.
Murillo pointed out that these figures are unrealistic regarding the number of Ecuadorians who carry out irregular migration because they are among those who were detained, but that those who were able to cross the border are not counted there.
He commented that there are clearly identified provinces where people leave: Azuay, Cañar, Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Morona Santiago and Loja. To a lesser extent from Pichincha and Guayas, but lately it has also been observed from Manabí and Napo, specifically from Tena.
He argued that since the visa is requested to enter Mexico, an average of less than 10,000 Ecuadorians detained per month at the United States border, in the last two months they dropped to 600 in each one.
Despite the restrictions, people continue to leave Ecuador due to the lack of opportunities, work and unsatisfied basic needs, so the solution is not to stop all coyoteros because he warns that in months there will be new coyoteros and new routes.
The costs of leaving illegally
Irregular migration is a big deal, because there is talk of an average of $15,000 for each person who travels to the United States. If this is only multiplied by the 97,000 detainees, expelled and deported the previous year, it can be estimated that it moved more than one billion dollars.
That flow of money ended up in the hands of coyoteros, traffickers and those who handle human trafficking inside and outside of Ecuador.
The governor of Tungurahua, Fernando Gavilanes, stated that he asked the National Police to carry out intelligence work to identify the coyoteros. He said that there are no results yet, but that he is awaiting the follow-up work that is being done.
Consequences of family disintegration
María Porras, director of the Clinical Psychology course at the Autonomous Regional University of the Andes (Uniandes), recalled that the phenomenon of migration in the country began in 2000 when many people went to Europe, especially Spain, in search of of new job opportunities, and that is repeated strongly as a result of the pandemic in 2020 with the exit mainly to the United States.
He commented that migration brings with it various phenomena, such as family disintegration, depression, anxiety, mental health difficulties, especially for children from broken homes.
The specialist indicated that as a society there are emotional difficulties because the breakdown of a family implies behavioral, cognitive and affective complications, that for this reason the children of migrants will probably not have the same development and that therefore they will not grow in the same way as someone who remained sheltered by maternal and paternal figures.
Porras said that this probably generates risk in the long run with girls and boys, who may be more likely to fall into criminal behavior, substance use (subject to control) and with a tendency to depression, suicide attempts and even acts of suicide.
For this reason, he said, migration should be analyzed as a multi-causal issue, which he warned is difficult to face, for which he urged teachers to identify warning and alarm indicators in students in order to refer the cases to a professional. of mental health. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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