The United Nations and the government of Costa Rica signed a $2 million migration aid fund, the UN office in the Central American country reported on Monday.
The amount is intended to “strengthen peaceful coexistence, community integration and the institutional response in assisting migrant and refugee people in communities in the northern border area” with Nicaragua, they indicated in a statement.
The project will be executed starting at the beginning of 2024 for 24 months and will be administered through the Ministry of Public Security (Interior) and the Ministry of Planning and Economic Policy.
The initiative will be applied mainly in the communities of Upala and Los Chiles, border crossing points where migrants traveling to the United States arrive, mostly Venezuelans, after crossing Costa Rica from the southern border with Panama, a country that many reach after crossing the Darien jungle, where there are natural obstacles and gangs that steal, kidnap and rape operate.
More than half a million people have crossed this jungle in 2023, according to the Panamanian government. The United Nations indicated that migrants and refugees should not be seen as “mere statistics,” nor “as a threat or problem.”
“Human mobility is a common good, an opportunity to embrace diversities and build a stronger, more plural and supportive social fabric,” said UN Resident Coordinator in Costa Rica, Allegra Baiocchi.
