Evaluation of effectiveness of the Protection Transfer Arrangement in Central America

The Protection Transfer Arrangement (PTA), an innovative protection mechanism, was initiated in September 2016 by UNHCR to respond to the increasing number of people fleeing the North of Central America (NCA) countries - El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The PTA had three objectives: 1. Providing a small number of individuals at heightened risk with a safe access to international protection and solutions; 2. Preventing individuals at heightened risk from taking dangerous routes out of the NCA and undercutting human trafficking; and 3. Fostering regional responsibility-sharing and south-south cooperation. The PTA mechanism was thus designed around three components 1) an identification and selection process for persons at heightened risk in countries of origin; 2) available quotas or spaces in a receiving resettlement country that can provide durable solution for the individuals and their family members; and 3) a transit country that can offer a safe and temporary stay in a timely manner during finalization of case processing. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between UNHCR, IOM, and Costa Rica in July 2016 to identify and resettle high risk cases to a third country while transiting through Costa Rica for a maximum period of six months. The PTA was initially implemented in El Salvador in 2016 and expanded to Guatemala and Honduras in 2017.