U.S. AID CUTS LIKELY TO BACKFIRE

Charities say move may fuel flow of migrants in Central American countries

ADECISION by the United States government to cut aid to three Central American nations is “counterproductive”, likely to backfire and fuel, rather than stem, the flow of migrants north fleeing gang violence and dire poverty, charities said on Tuesday.

The US State Department said on Saturday it would carry out President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to end foreign assistance to programmes in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, known as the Northern Triangle.

Trump has criticised the three nations for doing little to stop the flow of migrants and asylum seekers, many of whom are seeking better lives in the US.

Charities that receive funding from the US government to promote

economic and social development in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras said aid cuts not only would do little good but would make matters worse.

“The people who are really going to get hurt by this are the people who are the region’s most vulnerable, including small farmers and teenagers trying to avoid the pressures of joining gangs and escape violence,” said David Ray, vice-president of policy and advocacy at global charity CARE.

“Poverty, violence and insecurity — those are exactly the drivers of migration. So to undercut those programmes seems to be self-defeating,” he said.

The US provides hundreds of millions of dollars every year for development projects in the Northern Triangle, including crime and gang violence prevention, efforts to strengthen agriculture and justice systems, anticorruption programmes and job skills training.

US foreign aid to Central America dropped to US$527.6 million (RM2.1 billion) this year from US$655 million in 2017, according to the think-tank Washington Office on Latin America.

Trump’s idea to cut aid to the Northern Triangle could add to migration north as conditions at home worsen, experts said.

“He is concerned about border security,” said Robert Zachritz, vice-president for advocacy and government relations at charity World Vision.

“If you want to solve that problem, what he is proposing is counterproductive.”

World Vision relies on US$127 million of US government funding for Northern Triangle projects.

CARE would have to scale back in the Northern Triangle on efforts that include a project helping poor farmers in Guatemala grow sustainable crops.