At least 138 people deported from the US to El Salvador have been killed since returning, report finds
- Shocking figures also confirm at least 70 cases of sexual assault or other violence following their arrival in the country
- The number of Salvadorans seeking asylum in the United States grew by nearly 1,000 per cent between 2012 and 2017
At least 138 people deported to El Salvador from the US in recent years were subsequently killed, Human Rights Watch says in a new report that comes as the Trump administration makes it harder for Central Americans to seek refuge here.
A majority of the deaths documented by Human Rights Watch in the report being released Wednesday occurred less than a year after the deportees returned to El Salvador, and some within days. The organisation also confirmed at least 70 cases of sexual assault or other violence following their arrival in the country.
The violence underscores the risk faced by people forced to return by US law that mandates deportation of non-citizens convicted of a range of crimes and Trump administration policies that discourage asylum seekers, said Alison Leal Parker, the group’s US managing director.
“Our concern is that many of these people are facing a death sentence,” Leal Parker said.
Between 2014 and 2018 the US deported about 111,000 Salvadorans back to their homeland, which has long been in the grip of fierce gang violence.
