The research described in this report had the following objectives: to form an estimate of the number of Salvadorians currently in Nicaragua, who left El Salvador for economic reasons; to estimate the costs borne by Nicaragua from 1981-83 as a country of first asylum; to obtain basic information on Central American immigrants in Nicaragua; to study the influence of unemployment and underemployment as reasons prompting Salvadorians and Guatemalans to leave their countries; to study the effects of the presence of refugees on the employment situation in Nicaragua. The study was confined to 'legalized refugees', i.e. 2,414 individuals who were fully identified and relatively easy to locate. It is estimated that over 15,000 refugees have not legalized their situation in Nicaragua. The report recommends that an in-depth study should be made of the whole migrant population which has found, in Nicaragua, the opportunity to survive and to produce. International assistance should be increased and directed towards the development of the production sectors. Educational programmes also need support. Technical advice should be offered to the Government of Nicaragua, to help channel assistance from the international community more effectively.

This report examines the situation of refugees and displaced persons in Central America with particular emphasis on assistance and protection issues and on the US Government's policy in the region. It is divided into five parts. The first contains an overview of refugee exoduses and movements of displaced persons within Central America and Mexico. The author suggests that the US Government has not paid sufficient attention to the problems of refugees and displaced persons in Central America, despite the fact that US contributions to UNHCR have been an essential component in the international refugee programmes in that region. The legal status of refugees and protection issues in each country are examined in the second and third parts. The author notes that Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and, recently, Guatemala and El Salvador are signatories to the UN 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. At the same time, she observes that there are no refugee programmes in Guatemala and that the UNHCR has neither been invited to investigate the conditions of the 70,000 Salvadorians there nor to establish programmes to help them. It is pointed out that, while adhering to the principle of non-refoulement, the Mexican Government has been under pressure both internally and also from the US Government to pursue repatriation negotiations with the Guatemalan Government, and that some Salvadorian refugees may have been sent back across the border to Guatemala. The author argues that displaced persons are on the whole more vulnerable than refugee groups to repression and assault, and she notes that the situation in El Salvador has been recognized as a major humanitarian emergency by the Government. The two final parts of the report contain the conclusions and recommendations. The author's recommendations include: 1) assistance programmes should be channelled through local churches or other independent agencies; 2) the US Government should ensure that its assistance programmes be administered by social service agencies, not the military as is the case in Guatemala; 3) there should be an increased international presence in Nicaragua to exert a humanitarian influence in issues concerning Miskito Indians; 4) the US should continue to support ICRC programmes in Nicaragua; 5) US assistance programmes in El Salvador should be less politicized; and 6) the US Government should avoid allowing political and military considerations to take precedence over the protection of refugees. In conclusion, the author suggests that the restoration of peace in the region would result in voluntary repatriation.

Challenging Fronteras reflects an important new wave of research that moves beyond sweeping generalizations that treat Latinos as a monolithic cultural group. This anthology focuses on the diversity of Latino experiences by providing historical specificity and cutting-edge research that employs the conceptual and analytical tools of social science. Contributors, selected from leading researchers in Latino Studies, include Patricia Zavella, Suzanne Oboler, Alejandro Portes, Clara Rodriquez, Marta Tienda, Nestor Rodriquez, and others.

A review of the refugee flows and the dislocations of people caused by oppression, persecution and armed conflict since World War II, this book also gives a first-hand account of the humanitarian efforts of governments, voluntary agencies and individuals in responding to these emergencies.