the regime did not amount to crimes against humanity and were, therefore, subject to statutes of limitations. Yet there was some progress. In Argentina, 29 people were sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity committed during the 1976-1983 military regime, and a federal court issued a historic decision under which four former members of the judiciary were sentenced to life in prison for contributing to the commission of crimes against humanity during those years. In Bolivia a Truth Commission was established to investigate serious human rights violations committed under military governments from 1964 to 1982. There was progress in prosecuting some crimes against humanity committed during Guatemala’s internal armed conflict (1960-1996), with five former members of the military sent to trial on charges of crimes against humanity, rape and enforced disappearance. After several failed attempts since 2015, the trials of former military head of state José Efraín Ríos Montt and former intelligence chief José Rodríguez Sánchez finally resumed in October. REFUGEES, MIGRANTS AND STATELESS PEOPLE DENIAL OF PROTECTION BY THE USA Amid a global refugee crisis in which more than 21 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war and persecution, the USA took extreme steps to deny protection to people in need. In the first few weeks of his administration, President Trump issued executive orders to suspend the country’s refugee resettlement programme for 120 days, impose an indefinite ban on the resettlement of refugees from Syria, and reduce the annual refugee admission cap to 50,000. President Trump also signed an executive order vowing to build a wall along the USA-Mexico border. His order, which pledged to put in place 5,000 additional border patrol agents, carried the risk that more migrants – including many in need of international protection – would be unlawfully pushed back at the border or deported to places where their lives are at risk. The injustice of President Trump’s actions was emphasized by Central America’s ongoing refugee crisis, and by the appalling situation in Venezuela, which led to an increase in the number of Venezuelans seeking asylum abroad. As conditions for refugees and migrants in the USA deteriorated, there was a significant increase in numbers of asylum-seekers irregularly crossing the border from the USA into Canada. REFUGEE CRISIS According to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, more than 57,000 people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador sought asylum in other countries. Many were forced back home, where a lack of an effective system to protect them meant they faced the same dangers and conditions from which they had fled. Thousands of families and unaccompanied children from those countries migrated to the USA through Mexico and were apprehended at the US border. Mexico received a record number of asylum applications, mostly from nationals of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Venezuela, but repeatedly failed to provide protection to those who needed it – instead pushing people back to highly dangerous and even lifethreatening situations. Argentina’s reception system for asylum-seekers remained slow and insufficient, and there was no integration plan in place to help asylum-seekers and refugees access basic rights such as education, work and health care. Cubans continued to leave the country in large numbers, pushed by low wages and undue restrictions on freedom of expression. Amnesty International Report 2017/18 31