Honduras: Information on the "San Antonio Intipuca" refugee camp, including conditions in the camp, and the status of Salvadorans from that camp returning to El Salvador

The information available on the San Antonio camp for

Salvadoran refugees in Honduras does not mention Intipuca or

Intibuca as part of the camp's name. However, a 1985 source states the following:

 Another border camp still in operation is located near

Colomoncagua in Intibuca and now houses 9,000 refugees. New

refugees arriving at UNHCR reception centers along the border are transferred to one of these two camps. (Torres-Rivas 1985, 27)

 In October 1989 UNHCR indicated that the population of San

Antonio camp totalled 1,127 persons (UNHCR 31 Oct. 1989). A

January 1990 news report estimated the population of San Antonio

camp at 1,100 (Reuters 12 Jan. 1990), while a February 1990

report provided a figure of "about 900" (UPI 17 Feb. 1990).

 The San Antonio refugee camp was reportedly closed on 4

March 1990, a day after the last UNHCR repatriation effort of its occupants (World Refugee Survey 1991, 86; Refugee Reports

27 April 1990, 4).

 The attached sources provide figures and details on the San

Antonio refugee camp's population, operation and organization.

One of the attachments is a Salvadorean study published in

Spanish. This document, written by Segundo Montes and published

by the Jesuit Universidad Centroamericana of El Salvador under

the title Refugiados y Repatriados - El Salvador y Honduras

(listed below), describes the social conditions in the Salvadoran refugees' camps in Honduras.

 According to Montes's study, Salvadoran refugees in Honduran camps were confined to restricted areas, isolated from the rest of the population and the host country (p. 39). The social organization inside the camps is described as "very dense and planned, with egalitarian participation of all their population" (p. 40). The occupants' representation is described as three-tiered: the lowest one being that of the "colonias" or groups of families or houses, the middle one being semi-autonomous "sub-camps" ("subcampamentos") of which San Antonio had two at the time of the study's writing, and one general directorate and committee (comité y directiva general) in each of the Colomoncagua and San Antonio camps (Ibid.).

 Montes also states that the above-named camps had "a

rational division of tasks" (división racional de tareas) according to each persons capacity and skill, which eliminated

"delinquency, drugs, laziness and any other social evil" (lacra

social) (p. 41). The same author indicates that the social and

economic organization seemed to be conditioned by the "high

ideological homogeneity" (gran homogeneidad ideológica) prevalent in the camps (Ibid.). Montes adds that the social

organization of the camps created tensions and rejection among

some occupants, who sought individual or small-group alternatives and were forced by the community's social control and leadership. This led to external criticisms, problems with UNHCR and internal measures of coercion and "resocialization" (resocialización).

 Another source states that the personal security of some

occupants in Honduran camps was threatened by the refugee

authorities, with cases of intimidation and the possibility of

communal kitchens withholding food "to influence or discipline

dissidents" (U.S. General Accounting Office 1989, 31 and 33).

Although not necessarily referring to San Antonio camp, the source states that international observers had reported some

cases of children being taken away from women until they changed

their mind after expressing their desire to repatriate, and that

personal mail was intercepted and meetings with visitors monitored by the refugee coordinators (Ibid.)

 The relationship between the camps' occupants and other

groups and organizations varied, according to Montes. The

occupants' relationship with UNHCR was a tense, demanding one,

often pressuring the agency, although at the same time UNHCR's

protection and assistance was valued (Montes 1989, 44). With

other foreign organizations relationships were sometimes positive, except for cases such as Médecins Sans Frontières

(MSF), whose members were expelled by the refugees for reasons

that the author avoids discussing (p. 45). Another source states

that refugee coordinators criticized Médecins Sans Frontières'

medical teams alleging insufficient medicine, inadequate medical

treatment and for not living inside the camps (U.S. General Accounting Office 1989, 31).

 One of the attached sources sates that "over the years, there have been numerous reports of abuses against the refugees

[while in refugee camps in Honduras] by Honduran military personnel" (Refugee Reports 27 April 1990, 4). Another source

states that the refugees' coordinating committees limited the

latter source's fact-finding mission to the information the

coordinators themselves would provide (U.S. General Accounting

Office 1989, 32). The latter source, however, adds that the

Salvadorean refugee camps in Honduras were designated "closed

camps" by Honduran authorities, with their armed forces in charge of surveillance of each camp. Access to and exit from the camp required permission from the Honduran military, with departures being denied except in special circumstances such as medical emergencies (Ibid., 33).

 Additional details on conditions inside the Salvadorean

refugee camps in Honduras can be found among the attached documents.

 Specific references on the current status of repatriated

Salvadoreans from San Antonio camp could not be found among the

sources currently available to the IRBDC. Recent documents refer

mostly to the repatriated refugees from Colomoncagua camp, stating that refugees repatriated from Honduras reportedly

settled in conflictive zones of El Salvador and were subject at

times to harassment by the Salvadorean armed forces (see attached articles from Refugee Reports, Exile and Central America Report). More recent reports of harassment of

repatriated refugees from Colomoncagua or San Antonio camps could not be found among the available sources.

 One source published in January 1991 stated that "returnees

[had] not been issued with identity documentation by the state",

adding that a bill had just been presented "to the Legislative

Congress to bring speedy documentation for returnees" (Exile

Jan. 1991).

 The attached articles from the UNHCR publication Refugees (listed below) describe recent living conditions of repatriated Salvadorean refugees. They also provide a reference to the CIREFCA conference of Central American states, the Special Plan of Economic Co-operation for Central America and other projects being implemented to assist repatriated refugees in improving their living condition and self-sustaining development.

 Additional and specific information on the status of San

Antonio camp's repatriated refugees in El Salvador is being

sought. Should it become available before the hearing date

indicated in your Information Request, it will be immediately

forwarded to you.

 Bibliography

Torres-Rivas, Edelberto. July 1985. Report on the Condition of Central American Refugees and Migrants. Washington, D.C.:

Georgetown University Center for Immigration Policy And

Refugee Assistance.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR. 31 October 1989. "Voluntary Repatriation of Salvadorian Refugees from Honduras."

Reuters. 12 January 1990, BC Cycle. "Salvadorean Refugees Set to Return From Honduras." (NEXIS)

United Press International - UPI. 17 February 1990, BC Cycle. "Salvadoran Refugee Camp in Honduras to Close." (NEXIS)

U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1991. World Refugee Survey 1991. Washington, D.C.: American Council for Nationalities.

Refugee Reports. 27 April 1990. "Honduras: Colomoncagua and

San Antonio Refugee Camps Closed."

Montes, Segundo. May 1989. Refugiados y Repatriados - El

Salvador y Honduras. San Salvador: Universidad Centroamericana

José Simeón Cañas.

U.S. General Accounting Office. 1989. Central America:

Conditions of Refugees and Displaced Persons. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Exile. January 1991. "Determined Return."

Central America Report. 8 February 1991. "Home After 11

years."

 Attachments

Torres-Rivas, Edelberto. July 1985. Report on the Condition of Central American Refugees and Migrants. Washington, D.C.:

Georgetown University Center for Immigration Policy And Refugee Assistance. pp. 26-28.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR. 31 October 1989. "Voluntary Repatriation of Salvadorian Refugees from Honduras."

Reuters. 12 January 1990, BC Cycle. "Salvadorean Refugees Set to Return From Honduras." (NEXIS)

United Press International - UPI. 17 February 1990, BC Cycle. "Salvadoran Refugee Camp in Honduras to Close." (NEXIS)

U.S. Committee for Refugees. 1991. World Refugee Survey 1991. Washington, D.C.: American Council for Nationalities. pp.

17-18, 21, 83-84, 86.

Refugee Reports. 27 April 1990. "Honduras: Colomoncagua and

San Antonio Refugee Camps Closed."

Montes, Segundo. May 1989. Refugiados y Repatriados - El

Salvador y Honduras. San Salvador: Universidad Centroamericana

José Simeón Cañas. pp. 39-46.

U.S. General Accounting Office. 1989. Central America:

Conditions of Refugees and Displaced Persons. Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 26-35.

Exile. January 1991. "Determined Return."

Central America Report. 8 February 1991. "Home After 11

years."

Refugees. December 1990. "In Search of Stability."

. March 1991. "Settling Down in El Salvador" and

"Displacement and Development."

Latinamerica Press. 1 March 1990. "Salvadoran Repatriates

Begin Anew."

. 5 April 1990. ""El Salvador: Children Return Home."