Immigration to the Republic of Honduras is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been an important source of population growth and cultural change through the centuries throughout much of Honduran history. In 2020 the Palestinian immigrant community in Honduras was the second-largest in Latin America at around 280,000 people. In the ten months to October 2022, about 120,000 migrants passed through Honduras, most of them being irregular.
History
Colonial period
The history of immigration in Honduras is given as a continuation of the Spanish colonization of the American continent. Each period brought different national and ethnic groups from the Iberian peninsula. The first spaniards who arrived and settle in Honduran soil where Extremadurans and Andalucians. On the later fifteenth century more Spanish arrived to New Spain, followed by Africans, most of them slaves. In 1797 the Garifunas were expelled by the English from the island of San Vicente, to the nearby islands from Roatán and Trujillo.In the fifteenth century, Spanish citizens declared themselves in favor of moving to new lands to colonize them; then during the reign of Carlos of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire ordered the Organization of the Hispanic Monarchy in 1522 and two years later (1524) the Council of the Indies was founded and it was also during his reign that his territories were extended in America , Honduras (Hibueras or Comayagua) in those times was one more property of the Spanish Monarchy. In the same way, as so many Spaniards arrived, so did the French, English, Italians, Germans, etc.
Republican era
Honduras obtains independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, and from the first Mexican empire in 1823, forming part of the Central American Federation. Honduras would finally separate from this Union in 1838, beginning its history as an independent nation. During this decade the greatest migration would be Spaniards, mainly from Catalonia.
In 1875 the so-called liberal reform would take place at the hands of the liberal president Dr. Marco Aurelio Soto. It would assist and initiate the flooding of waves of immigrants from Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. This was under the excuse to increase the Honduran Economy and taking immigration policies similar to the US ones.
Later, during the government of General Luis Bográn, a descendant of french immigrants, gived a great importance to immigration so that it populates the national territory and promotes both work and the exploitation of natural resources, what Honduras offered to foreigners was equal treatment. cordial, security and above all hand over the Honduran nationality. At the end of the 19th century, the presence of US comapanies in Honduras was already making itself felt, so during the late 19th century and early 20th century, there was a steady stream of American migration for various reasons. Some were to work as officials in fruit or mining companies, as salaried workers, or for mere exoticism since the Honduran coast has always been a tourist attraction.
By the 1930s, the Arab community was the strongest economically immigrant group due to the undertakings of various textile or coffee businesses. Sinmarbergo in the 40s the German community in Hoduras suffered a lot because at that time Honduras had entered the conflict in 1941, which caused the expropriation of German businesses throughout the country. However, from the 50s onwards, Honduras would again maintain bilateral relations with Germany.
During the 1960s, a good portion of the Honduran population were Salvadoran immigrants and their children who, due to the limited space in El Salvador, sought to continue farming in Honduras. However, it was for this reason that the government of Oswaldo Lopez Arellano used them as a scapegoat for the economic downturn that Honduras experienced in the late 60s. This provoked the 100-day war in which several Salvadoran families were forcibly displaced from the country. However, Honduras and El Salvador would once again have agreements where the latter would accept open borders with its neighboring nation. The internal migration of Central Americans would continue to be seen as a result of the Cold War due to the conflict called The Central American crisis, being the largest group of these Nicaraguans.