Young People on the Move and Their Engagement in Peace & Security: Case Study from the North of Central America and South Sudan

UNHCR has selected two situations that are in many ways at opposite ends of the spectrum of displacement. In the first, young South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia and Uganda in many ways face a ‘traditional’ refugee situation, in which families and communities have been forced by fighting to flee across international borders. Once in the country of asylum, many live within allocated camps or settlements, with varying degrees of contact with the host community. The second situation is the displacement from the North of Central America countries of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, where the reason for young people’s movement is not armed conflict, but increased violence by organized armed criminal actors. People are targeted individually or as families, and flee alone or in small groups. In Mexico, some seek refugee status, but many remain undocumented, isolated and largely unprotected as they navigate their way along the route north. Despite the obvious differences between the two settings, there are historical, political and social similarities that have an impact on youth.