This report is in response to your request that we
investigate certain issues concerning Salvadoran nationals.
As agreed with your office, our review covered those
Salvadorans who, whether through deportation, voluntary
departure proceeding, or otherwise, have been required to
return to El Salvador. Specifically, you asked us to
comment on (1) whether they have been targeted for violence
or persecution upon their return and (2) the reliability
and use made of reports by the Intergovernmental Committee
for Migration (ICM) on its reception program for returning
Salvadorans. When we briefed you in late March 1987, we
focused on the three questions summarized below.
Additional details are presented in the appendices.

First, to what extent have Salvadoran returnees experienced
violence or persecution? The State Department has stated
that ICM has not reported a single case of political
persecution involving returnees to El Salvador. Our review
of ICM's reports showed that, while the reports do not
specifically state that individuals have experienced
political persecution, they do state that some returnees
have reported personal security problems. ICM's records
showed that, as of February 1987, 70 returnees have
reported personal security problems. ICM, based on
personal interviews or correspondence with returnees,
classifies reports of threats of violence or persecution as
"personal security problems." ICM has decided that such
cases warrant its assistance to individuals to apply for
emigration to other countries that have humanitarian
resettlement programs. Australia, Canada, and Sweden have
accepted 5 returnees determined to be in life-threatening
situations from either government security or guerrilla
forces and were considering the applications of 32 others.
We did not attempt to verify the validity of ICM's
determinations or whether, in fact, the reported violence
or persecution had occurred.

The ICM program covered only about two-thirds of returnees from the United States during the period December 1, 1984 to December 31, 1986. The reliability of information

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developed by ICM, human rights organizations, and the U.S. embassy in San Salvador is limited, and therefore the frequency or extent of political violence or persecution experienced by returnees cannot be determined.

Second, what is the extent of violence or persecution experienced by the general population of El Salvador? Evidence obtained from the U.S. embassy and human rights monitoring organizations in San Salvador indicates that human rights abuses in El Salvador are still occurring but with distinctly less intensity and frequency than previously. However, the limitations on data collection that exist for all organizations monitoring human rights violations in San Salvador weaken the validity of information on the extent of such occurrences. U.S. and Salvadoran officials we contacted in San Salvador believe that Salvadorans continue to have a pervasive fear of random violence. They told us that Salvadorans are concerned about the consequences of being viewed as sympathetic to either government security or guerrilla forces. Some officials reported a widespread Salvadoran mistrust of government judicial institutions and processes. Third, have Salvadoran returnees experienced more violence or persecution than the general population? It cannot be determined whether Salvadoran returnees, as a group, have experienced more violence or persecution than the general population. This is because (1) organizations that gather data on returnees do not have adequate information about returnees' experiences after they return to El Salvador and (2) organizations that gather data on human rights violations do not identify returnees as a separate group. Officials we interviewed said that, while some returnees may have greater personal fear of violence and persecution, than does the general population, the likelihood that they would actually experience such violence or persecution depends more on the reasons individuals left El Salvador in the first place than it does on the status of being a returnee.

ICM provided some clarifying comments on this report and we have incorporated them in the report as appropriate. (See app. III.)

In its comments on the report, the Department of State said that there was no evidence that returnees have suffered political persecution. While we agree that ICM reports do not specifically refer to returnees experiencing political persecution, they do report on returnees having personal

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security problems. includes evidence that returnees have reported lifethreatening situations and, as a result, other nations have accepted some returnees for humanitarian resettlement.

ICM's basis for such a determination

Although the Department stated it agreed with the observation that returnees encounter the same problems as do similarly situated persons in the general Salvadoran population, it was not our intention to infer that we had reached that conclusion. We believe that due to the data limitations described in this report, a comparison cannot be made of the problems encountered by returnees versus the general population in El Salvador.

The Department stated that civil strife and other violence in El Salvador have created circumstances that cause people to experience personal security problems. Also, the Department noted that, while human rights abuses are not authorized or condoned by the highest level of the Salvadoran government, lower-level government security forces and guerrillas are responsible for some human rights abuses from time to time. The State Department's comments are included in appendix IV.

We analyzed information on Salvadoran returnees and conditions in El Salvador at the Departments of State and Justice (including the Immigration and Naturalization Service) in Washington, D.C., and at the U.S. embassy and ICM in San Salvador. We also met with representatives of U.S. agencies and of key international, Salvadoran government, church, and human rights agencies in San Salvador who assist displaced persons in El Salvador. work was conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.

Our

As agreed with you, we are providing Congressman John Joseph Moakley with a copy of this report. We are also sending copies to appropriate congressional committees; the Director, Office of Management and Budget; the Secretaries of State and Justice; and other interested parties.

Sincerely yours,

Frank @Conchau

Frank C. Conahan

Assistant Comptroller General

II.4:
II.5:

Method of ICM's Follow-up Contact With Returnees
Length of Time ICM Maintained Contact with Returnees

14

14

II.6:

U.S. Embassy's Reports of Civilian Deaths Attributed
to Political Violence

18

II.7:

II.8:

II.9:

GAO
ICM
INS

Tutela Legal's Reports of Civilian Deaths Attributed
to Political Violence

Location and Contact Statistics for Returnees Included
in ICM's Field Surveys (Dec. 1, 1984 Apr. 30, 1986)
Salvadorans Resettled to Other Countries by ICM
(June 1983 Dec. 1986)

ABBREVIATIONS

General Accounting Office

Intergovernmental Committee for Migration
Immigration and Naturalization Service