PASO CANOAS: A Tropical Limbo for Migrants
A New Reality for Migrants
Marwa fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan because she wanted to study, work, wear jeans and go to the park without a male chaperone. Now she is under lock and key in Costa Rica, along with hundreds of other migrants expelled by the United States to third countries in Central America.
A Detention Center in Costa Rica
Costa Rica is one of three Central American countries, along with Panama and Guatemala, that have agreed to receive migrants from other countries and to detain them until they are sent to their home nations or other host countries. A fourth country — El Salvador — took a group of Venezuelans and jailed them in a maximum-security prison after the United States claimed, without providing evidence, that they are gang members.
Fear and Desperation
All said they feared for their lives in their homeland. Marwa, 27, said she was terrified at the thought that she, her husband, and two-year-old daughter could be sent back to Afghanistan. Her husband, Mohammad Asadi, 31, who ran a construction company back home, was threatened by the Taliban for selling materials to American companies. "I know if I go back I will die there. I will be killed by the Taliban," Marwa told AFP in English, in an interview conducted through the center’s perimeter fence.
A Systematic Pattern of Human Rights Violations
At the Costa Rican facility, the group said they were well fed and allowed to use their cell phones, but their passports had been seized by the police. "There is a systematic pattern of human rights violations in a country that has always prided itself on defending them," said former Costa Rican diplomat Mauricio Herrera, who has filed a legal challenge to the migrants’ detention. "This is a very serious setback for Costa Rica," he told AFP.
Tropical Limbo
On his return to office in January, US President Donald Trump launched what he vowed would be the biggest migrant deportation wave in American history and signed an order suspending asylum claims at the southern border. Citing pressure from "our economically powerful brother to the north," Costa Rica said it had agreed to collaborate in the "repatriation of 200 illegal immigrants to their country." But only 74 of the migrants have been repatriated so far, with another 10 set to follow, according to the authorities. The rest are in limbo.
Prison or War
German Smirnov, a 36-year-old Russian former election official, said he fled to the United States with his wife and six-year-old son after flagging up fraud in last year’s presidential election. He said his request for asylum in the United States was "totally ignored, like it had never existed." If returned to Vladimir Putin’s Russia, he said: "They will give me two options, sit in prison or go to war (in Ukraine)."
A Long Road Ahead
Marwa and her husband also said they wanted to seek asylum in the United States when they arrived at the US-Mexican border earlier this year after a grueling overland journey through 10 countries, starting in Brazil. But they were never given the chance to file an asylum claim. Instead, they were detained and flown to Costa Rica 18 days later. Asadi said an immigration official verbally abused Marwa for wearing a hijab and singled her out to pick up trash, alone. Smirnov said they treated the migrants, including women and children, "like scum."
Conclusion
The situation in Costa Rica is a result of a systematic pattern of human rights violations, and it is essential for the country to change its policy and provide a safe and dignified treatment to the migrants. The international community must also come together to address the root causes of migration and provide a safe and dignified treatment to the migrants.
FAQs
Q: What is the current situation of the migrants in Costa Rica?
A: The migrants are detained in a facility near Costa Rica’s border with Panama and are being held under lock and key.
Q: How many migrants have been repatriated so far?
A: Only 74 of the migrants have been repatriated so far, with another 10 set to follow, according to the authorities.
Q: What is the reason for the detention of the migrants?
A: The detention of the migrants is due to a systematic pattern of human rights violations, and it is essential for the country to change its policy and provide a safe and dignified treatment to the migrants.
Q: What is the current policy of Costa Rica regarding the migrants?
A: Costa Rica has agreed to receive migrants from other countries and to detain them until they are sent to their home nations or other host countries.