Guatemala - Migration

Because of persecution and civil war, Amerindian peasants began emigrating across the Mexican border in 1981. Under the CIREFCA plan (International Conference on Central American Refugees), 18,000 Guatemalans repatriated between 1989 and 1994. In 1995, 9,500 repatriated from Mexico, and in 1996, another 3,974 repatriated from Mexico. In 1997, there were still 40,000 in Mexico and Belize. Between 1984, when the first repatriation movements took place, and 1999, a total of 43,663 refugees had returned to more than 160 communities throughout Guatemala. The Guatemalan government spent some $30 million on 36 farms purchased for collective returns. In 2000, the net migration rate was -2.8 migrants per 1,000 population, down from 4.3 per 1,000 in 1990. The total number of migrants in the country in that year was 43,000. The government views the migration levels as satisfactory.