Humanity across the Americas: How the Red Cross is assisting people on the move
The history of Latin America and the Caribbean is marked by migration. Thousands of people move every day from north to south, from south to north, between Caribbean countries and between the continent and other regions of the world.People on the move, and the communities that host them, are not alone. In countries of origin, transit and destination, local Red Cross teams offer them assistance and protection.Along the migration routes, IFRC member National Societies in the region operate a network of Humanitarian Service Points that provide critical health, nutrition and psychosocial support to people in very vulnerable situations, regardless of their age, gender or beliefs, their reasons for leaving home, or which direction they are travelling.This includes migrants who are being returned to their country of origin by the national immigration authorities of other countries.Protection and assistance for returneesOne example is the work being done by the Red Cross in Honduras.In 2024, nearly 47,000 Honduran migrants returned home, equivalent to more than 128 people per day, according to the International Organization for Migration. In January 2025, 90 Hondurans migrants returned daily, for a total of 2,700.In close coordination with the state authorities, the Honduran Red Cross operates two public shelters that receive people who were unable to complete their journey northwards, including unaccompanied children and adolescents.At these centres, the Red Cross provides information, legal advice and looks after people’s physical and mental health. Returning migrants are often afraid to return to their communities so the Red Cross also provides support in assessing the risks and working to help people find a pathway to safe and successful reintegration.In 2024, at the Belén Care Centre for Migrant Children and Families, the Red Cross assisted more than 14,300 people, 59 per cent of whom were children. The year before, in 2023, the centre also assisted thousands of migrants, a large percentage of which were children. The words of the woman who manages the centre for the Honduran Red Cross still rings true today."All the cases in the centre are tough to listen to, all of them,”Gabriela Oviedo said at the time. “People come in frustrated and upset because they did not achieve their objective of reaching their destination.”Similar stories are unfolding in other Latin American countries. The Mexican Red Cross, for example, has activated its national emergency plan in response to the possible increase in deportations and returns this year. The plan provide for pre-hospital care, psychological first aid, hygiene kits, food kits and other relief items to those in need in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Tamaulipas.In Colombia, Red Cross has already provided assistance at El Dorado Airport in the country’s capital Bogota, to more than 200 migrants who arrived on the first two deportation flights from the United States. The Red Cross offered health assistance, psychosocial support and counselling, with special attention to children and adolescents.At the same time, in Ecuador, Red Cross teams are also coordinating with national authorities to provide humanitarian assistance at Manta and Guayaquil airports as deportation flights arrive.The Venezuelan Red Cross has also started to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants upon their return to Venezuela. Its services focus on primary health care and psychosocial support, in coordination with the national government authorities.The team of 40 multidisciplinary volunteers, doctors and first-aid workers also provided personal hygiene kits, refreshments, and medicines to people arriving on the first two flights of returnees landing at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela.Social inclusion is also keyColombia and Ecuador are also examples of countries where Red Cross teams provide another indispensable service: support for social and economic inclusion.In Colombia, for example, more than 2.8 million Venezuelan people have settled in the country in the last six years. Of these, 52 per cent are women and almost half of them is in need of protection.In Cundinamarca and Bogotá, the Colombian Red Cross is strengthening the resilience of women through shelters, offering specialized sexual and reproductive health services, distribution of protection kits and training to prevent gender-based violence. It also promotes community initiatives against xenophobia and discrimination.This intervention targets women of all ages, including women and girls displaced by violence, and includes nutritional assessments, access to medicines and safe spaces that promote their emotional well-being.“We have a safe space for children where they can play, have fun and grieve while their parents attend trainings on employability, and workshops on life and social skills, to enable them to start over,”says Erika Cardona, Director of Humanitarian Affairs for the Colombian Red Cross.If migrant and displaced women decide to stay temporarily or permanently in the community, the Colombia Red Cross’s Centre for Comprehensive Attention and Development supports them in finding employment and offers them spaces to continue their schooling.In Ecuador, the Red Cross works on the social inclusion of migrants who have decided to settle in the country, facilitating access to health, education and employment services.“For people who have decided to stay permanently or temporarily in the country, we have created free and voluntary associations”, says Roque Fabián Soria Vasco, president of the Ecuadorian Red Cross. “Through our job bank, they can access jobs according to their abilities, for example bakery, tailoring, beauty, among other options”.Usually, new arrivals do not have the means to buy food, basic goods or pay rent. There, the Ecuadorian Red Cross provides cash assistance and support to the small businesses of the migrant and host population. Red Cross is always thereEvery country faces unique challenges around migration flows. For the IFRC, the priority is to support people in vulnerable situations, according to their needs and regardless of their migration status, in accordance with our Fundamental Principles.In total, there are 22 countries in the Americas where local Red Cross teams work to ensure that the dignity and rights of migrants are respected and protected. The services they offer include:Pre-hospital care:First aid, health monitoring and medical assistance.Basic medical care: Healing of ampoules, provision of hydration serums and assessment of signs and symptoms.Provision of humanitarian aid: Delivery of food kits, personal hygiene and other basic supplies.Basic psychological support: Counselling and emotional support to cope with the impact of deportation.Restoring family links: Providing tools and means of communication to promote family reunification and contact with loved ones.Information on available services: Guidance is provided on the resources and services available in the different areas to support the reintegration of deported people.To learn more, visit our migration programmes page.