LATIN AMERICA l Mexico took an important step to improve its legal framework with the entry into force of its Law on Refugees and Complementary Protection. The new Law grants complementary protection to people not considered as refugees but who have faced death threats or are at risk of torture or other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment. l Argentina adopted and implemented a protocol for the protection and assistance of unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum. New standards have been put in place for the treatment of minors seeking asylum, as well as for best interest determination (BID) procedures to be carried out by Argentina’s General Office for Public Defence. l Panama passed a law creating a legal mechanism by which persons under its temporary humanitarian protection regime can apply for permanent residency status, bringing an end to the protracted situation of 863 Colombians living in vulnerable conditions in the southern border area. Working environment Despite the need for better mechanisms to identify persons in need of international protection, and ensure their access to asylum procedures, the protection and asylum space in some Latin American countries contracted further in 2011, mainly due to the introduction of restrictive refugee status determination (RSD) and pre-admissibility procedures. Violence has increased at an alarming rate in Central America, particularly in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Drug-trafficking organizations, transnational youth gangs and other criminal elements continued to challenge national institutions and threaten the civilian population. The Central American Security Strategy, under which States focus on regional cooperation mechanisms to enhance prevention policies and fight crime, does not address the effects of violence on humanitarian work. Asylum-seekers and refugees travelling through Central America and Mexico within migration movements faced significant risks of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), kidnapping and capture by human traffickers. The presence of irregular armed actors of the conflict in Colombia in neighbouring countries, mainly Ecuador and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, continued to expose people of concern to various risks, including forced recruitment of children and SGBV. The number of Haitians migrating to Brazil via Ecuador and Peru increased sharply in 2011. The Brazilian Government continued issuing Haitians with residence permits on humanitarian grounds, enabling them to work legally. Achievements and impact The ministerial-level meeting in Geneva commemorating the anniversaries of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1961 Statelessness Convention was attended by 18 Latin American delegations and saw 11 States announce pledges to improve their RSD procedures and conditions for women 340 UNHCR Global Report 2011 and children. Additional efforts were announced by governments to identify durable solutions, notably resettlement, and to further the prevention and reduction of statelessness. The Mexico Plan of Action continued to guide the strategies of all operations in Latin America. UNHCR advocated for the strengthening of national protection mechanisms and the expansion of partnerships to spur local integration. A regional database giving prominence to livelihoods and local integration strategies was launched to provide a platform to share best practices in the region. Special programmes were implemented to address the needs of children and women, including a project for women at risk, which strengthened the Solidarity Resettlement Programme in southern Latin America. An innovative approach by the authorities in one province to provide housing for resettled refugees served as an example of how to overcome one of the main challenges hindering local integration. UNHCR worked jointly with national and international partners to strengthen child protection. National officials, including the police, were trained to respond to the protection needs of unaccompanied and separated minors in particular. UNHCR also strengthened partnerships on issues related to trafficking in persons and unaccompanied children, in particular with regard to their identification and the assessment of their protection needs. It worked closely