Guatemalan exiles demand policy for safe and dignified return

The organization Casa Centroamérica has released a report titled ‘La verdad del exilio (2014-2025)’, documenting the social impact of forced displacement in Guatemala. The study, coordinated by Carlos Martín Beristain, details how judicial coercion and criminalization forced dozens of journalists, human rights defenders, and justice operators into exile over the last decade.

The report indicates that 93% of recorded persecutions occurred within the last eight years, a period characterized by judicial actions under former Attorney General Consuelo Porras Argueta. President Bernardo Arévalo has acknowledged a “historical debt” to those forced into exile and announced the creation of an inter-institutional mechanism intended to facilitate a safe and dignified return for Guatemalan citizens.

Activists and former officials, including Andrea Ixchíu and Claudia Paz y Paz, emphasized the need for a formal state policy with dedicated budgets and institutional support. They argued that for permanent returns to be viable, the new prosecution service must close spurious cases and address the judicial mechanisms used for criminalization.