Coming home

El Salvador’s repatriation center has become a regional model for return migration.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Bright orange plastic chairs sit empty in neat rows in the fluorescently lit waiting room.

In a few hours they’ll be full of returning Salvadorans, arriving via federal flight from the United States or bus from Mexico. Some will arrive in chef’s uniforms, having been taken into custody while on the job. Others will arrive in filthy clothes without shoes, showing physical scars obtained on a weeks-long journey north hiking through deserts and fording rivers.

Regardless of where they came from or how long they were gone, the Salvadoran government is receiving them here in San Salvador at the country’s only reception center for returned migrants. The facility, formally the Dirección de Atención al Migrante, is known more commonly by the neighborhood in which it is located, La Chacra.

Returnees enter La Chacra, El Salvador's only reception center for returned migrants, after arriving via bus from Mexico.

Returnees enter La Chacra, El Salvador's only reception center for returned migrants, after arriving via bus from Mexico.

Following the unaccompanied minor crisis in 2014 that saw tens of thousands of Central American children migrate north, the following year La Chacra was overhauled to better serve Salvadorans who are returning to their country of origin. The changes were Salvadoran-led, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Organization for Migration, and the facility is now a regional model for how countries should receive and process returnees.

A senior U.S. government official who was authorized to speak with Devex on background said that three years ago, La Chacra was not ready to receive people being repatriated. Now the facility has better infrastructure, operates with streamlined business processes, and Salvadoran institutions charged with legal responsibility for returnees have improved communication.

The center was overhauled with support from USAID and IOM, and now houses more than nine government agencies.

The center was overhauled with support from USAID and IOM, and now houses more than nine government agencies.

“We work with the center’s coordinators to help them think through the flow of people through that center, how to do it more efficiently, how to do it more comfortably for the people that are coming back, and how to get those people connected back to their communities with services,” the U.S. official said.

In addition to a physical remodel of the building, the center now houses more than nine government agencies — up from five in 2014 — that all play a role in the return process. A returnee can receive services from all of them without having to navigate the system on their own and going to separate government buildings across San Salvador to get the information and services they need.

More than 20,000 returnees have arrived at the center so far this year.

More than 20,000 returnees have arrived at the center so far this year.

According to government data, the number of returnees spiked in 2016 at 52,188, and as of October, 20,522 had arrived a La Chacra in 2018. Each year there have been vastly more men processed at the center than women, with 15,181 men to 3,453 women returning in 2018.

“One of the lessons learned over time is that processes are ever changing, and we have to be in constant change.”
Ana Solórzano, director of La Chacra

Ana Solórzano, the director at La Chacra, said the center needs to constantly adapt to changing conditions and needs of returnees to ensure they are being received by the Salvadoran government in a dignified way. Several years ago, people started inquiring about WiFi in the facility, so it now has a network. People can also make international calls, as many are anxious to contact family members back in the U.S.

“This is a process where you constantly have to deal with multiple challenges for multiple reasons,” Solórzano said of the returnee process. “One of the lessons learned over time is that processes are ever changing, and we have to be in constant change to be able to take care of the different profiles of our nationals when they return.”

Upon arrival, the returnees are greeted in the waiting room, which can hold 200 people, and told where they are and what services they’ll have access to at La Chacra. They undergo a private intake interview, where the Salvadoran government gathers basic information about a returnee: Where abroad they came from, how long they were gone, if they were working and in what job, if they have family that remains abroad, if they experienced abuse during their journey.

The Salvadoran agencies share information, so a person does not have to answer the same questions repeatedly in multiple interviews with representatives from multiple government organizations. This is done to avoid revictimizing a person who may have experienced horrors on their journey along a migration route rife with robbery, sexual assault, extortion, and human trafficking. The returnee may also have been apprehended with little notice by immigration authorities after years of living abroad.

Photo showing the family waiting room.

Family members can now wait inside the facility for their loved ones to be processed.

Family members can now wait inside the facility for their loved ones to be processed.

The streamlined process takes about three hours, while before it took much longer, said Natalia Zepeda, a national project officer with IOM. Returnees also have immediate access to humanitarian assistance, she said.

“A person arriving from Mexico has traveled more than 23 hours in a bus, so coming in very vulnerable situations without having showered in a few days, without eating properly, so the most urgent matter is to assist them in what they should need,” Zepeda said. “There’s a lot of anxiety, they are tired, they want to leave the center, so we have to address this quickly so we can start releasing that stress.”

Zepeda said that the humanitarian response in La Chacra has been strengthened in the facility and program overhaul, with it now including the distribution of food and water when people arrive. They also have access to restrooms, showers, and medical professionals, as some returnees come back with injuries sustained on the journey. The facility distributes hygiene kits for people to take with them when they leave, as well as clothing and basic items that have been donated.

La Chacra provides basic clothing and hygiene supplies to returnees.

La Chacra provides basic clothing and hygiene supplies to returnees.

In addition to streamlining processes within La Chacra, the Salvadoran migration agency has also improved communication with external entities involved in the return process. Buses sent from Mexico carry up to 35 people and are scheduled to arrive in the morning, giving the facility notice when they cross into El Salvador from Guatemala so La Chacra can prepare for arrival. The U.S. flights, which can carry 110 people, land in the afternoon to space out arrivals.

The facility is given information ahead of time about anyone arriving that may have special needs, or any unaccompanied children. Women and children who are on their own have priority in receiving attention. La Chacra also tries to quickly process people who are catching buses to their community of origin in other parts of the country and may have another long journey ahead of them.

Returnees may have traveled for more than 23 hours by bus before reaching the facility.

Returnees may have traveled for more than 23 hours by bus before reaching the facility.

“There’s a lot of anxiety, they [returnees] are tired, they want to leave the center, so we have to address this quickly so we can start releasing that stress.”
Natalia Zepeda, national project officer, IOM

While parents are going through the intake process, children have free rein in a playroom that includes art supplies, toys, books, stuffed animals, and a slide. Child psychologists are available to assess needs, and staff wait with any unaccompanied children at the facility until a family member can pick them up. Only in rare cases are children kept in an emergency shelter overnight.

“In 99 percent of cases, we are very fortunate that we can identify a family member,” Solórzano said.

Family members there to retrieve a child or meet others arriving back in El Salvador wait inside the facility in a dedicated waiting room. Previously, people had to wait outside La Chacra, often in hot weather, for their loved ones to emerge. The room is staffed with psychology students who can provide information about how returnees and their families can access further services.

The Salvadoran government has plans to expand the services available on-site, working with USAID to design an expansion of La Chacra. An additional 1,000 square feet will allow adult men and women to be processed separately from family units and unaccompanied children who often have different needs.

Current and future American support for La Chacra aligns with U.S. government priorities for the region in addressing the root causes of migration and supporting programs to reintegrate returnees, the senior U.S. government official said.

“I do think the most important point here, at least [from] the USAID perspective, is that by helping these people with an orderly return to their countries, we anticipate that that will help reduce the probability that they will try the trip again,” the U.S. official said.

Reporting and photos by Teresa Welsh

Production by Naomi Mihara