Mass movements known as caravans have emerged through several calls on social networks; it was from October 2018 when hundreds of Hondurans gathered in San Pedro Sula with the aim of mobilizing in groups towards the United States.

In response to this situation, IOM implemented several actions focused on assisting migratory movements:

1. In close coordination with the field teams of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and CONMIGRANTES, we implemented the monitoring and estimation of the flow of migrants from the monument to the Divine Savior of the World to the “Polyhedron” that divides the routes to the different official borders with Guatemala and the estimation of population based on area density, adapting the basic methodology of Jacobs Crowd Formula to the context of the caravans. (October 2018).
2. Quick surveys and some in-depth interviews with the objective of characterizing this population and their needs in order to facilitate the humanitarian support of all actors at the transit, reception and reintegration levels (October 31, 2018).
3. The CONMIGRANTES field team monitored the flow of migrants from the monument to the Divine Savior of the World to the western bus terminal, where the migrant population boarded four buses bound for the “La Hachadura” border. (November 18, 2018)
4. The International Organization for Migration carried out in Tecún Umán (Guatemala) the monitoring of the flow of Salvadoran migrants that left on Sunday, November 18, from the monument to the Divine Savior of the World (El Salvador) and then crossed the border “La Hachadura” to Guatemala. (November 18-21, 2018)

To carry out these tasks, the IOM deployed different teams made up of trained technical personnel, some of them located in blind spots in order to characterize the profile of those groups that made up the Caravan, but used alternate routes.