QCOSTARICA — Migrants who are deported from the United States to Costa Rica as a transit country will be required to sign a consent form before leaving the detention center where they are being held.
The form forces some of the 200 transferred to Costa Rica that remain in the country to choose between voluntarily returning to their countries or submitting to refugee status in Costa Rica, despite the opposition of human rights organizations.
According to the new official measure, immigrants detained in the so-called Centro de Atención Temporal para Migrantes (CATEM) – Temporary Care Center for Migrants – who decide not to remain there must return to their countries of origin, despite the fact that many of them fear for their safety and their lives if they return to countries like Afghanistan.
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“They are in transit; so far, there is no visa that allows them free transit. We are offering them options such as refugee status or humanitarian status, and that would allow them to move freely throughout the country,” explained Omer Badilla, director of Costa Rica’s immigration service, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME).
Read more: Many of the migrants deported from US to Costa Rica have the ability to pay to leave the country
For their part, humanitarian organizations such as the Ombudsman’s Office, the Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, and sectors within the Legislative Assembly believe that these refugees sent by the United States should be subject to other humanitarian screening and treatment.
84 migrants have already left the CATEM to return to their countries, and 16 are in the process of joining them; however, some have expressed their desire to remain as refugees.
“I personally spoke with all of them, explaining the benefits, and some are considering the options that have been presented to them,” Badilla added.
Six migrants escaped the CATEM
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Six migrants deported by the United States escaped two weeks ago from the CATEN, near the border with Panama, where they were being held in Costa Rica while waiting for another country to accept them.
They are three Afghans, two Indians, and one Pakistani, who were among the 200 migrants expelled by the Donald Trump administration in February on two flights to Costa Rica.
“A couple of weeks ago, six people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India escaped from CATEM, all adults […], with no further details available to date on their whereabouts,” said Director Badilla.
The escapees “did not have official documentation,” he added in an audio recording sent to the media. The Immigration Police issued “an alert to verify whether the individuals can be located within the country in order to return them to CATEM,” he explained.
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Asylum granted
Costa Rica granted asylum status to 16 Chinese migrants deported by the United States on February 20 and 26, and who now have their refugee seeker cards, reported the DGME last Friday. The “carné de solicitantes de refugio” allows them totally freely exercise their rights within the country, reported the DGME.
Immigration director Badilla explained that Immigration is supporting this first group to request to remain in Costa Rica, so they can integrate into the Costa Rican economy and that they hope “the process will be harmonious, ensuring respect for the human rights of migrants.”
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