Some 1 Million Nicas Have Emigrated to Costa Rica

GENEVA – About 1 million Nicaraguans have emigrated to neighboring Costa Rica seeking a better life due to the dire poverty and lack of jobs in their own country, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

With a population of 5.6 million inhabitants – more than half of them under 18 – Nicaragua, the second-poorest country in the Americas, “is facing a tremendous challenge to overcome its poverty,” said IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy.

That challenge, he said, particularly affects women, since a quarter of Nicaraguan households are headed by women.

The spokesman cited Nicaraguan Capt. Lenin Flores, head of the Peñas Blancas border crossing, who said that the Nicaraguan emigrants “are not criminals,” but people “risking everything to find work and a better life,” even though they do it without the required documents.

In the last 30 years, Nicaraguan emigration has been spurred by natural disasters, political conflicts and economic hardship.

Costa Rica, meanwhile, has become a magnet for people without professional qualifications thanks to the abundant job market in sectors less attractive to the native population – above all in agriculture, construction and domestic service.

Though there are no exact figures, it is estimated that 250,000 Nicaraguans reside permanently in Costa Rica, while a similar number stay in the country only as long as their temporary jobs last.

–EFE