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Amy Stillman/IRIN

Women fleeing gangs in Central America fuel new refugee crisis

The number of women in Central America and Mexico fleeing gang violence is rising at an alarming rate, fuelling a new refugee crisis in the region.

That’s the conclusion of a new report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), called “Women on the Run”.

In early 2014, thousands of children escaping gang violence in Central America sparked a refugee crisis on the US border, prompting a heated debate over immigration.