Costa Rica and Panama will coordinate the transportation of migrants returning southward by bus after failing in their attempt to enter the United States, in order to control a rising reverse migration flow, ministers from both countries announced on Monday. The plan consists of granting migrants a safe-conduct pass and transporting them by bus from the Costa Rican town of Peñas Blancas, on the border with Nicaragua, to a shelter near the border with Panama.
From there, they will be transferred to the Panamanian government’s migrant shelter in Lajas Blancas, in the Darién jungle bordering Colombia, for a total journey of more than 1,400 kilometers by road between both countries. From Panama, they should continue their journey by sea to Colombia.
With this measure, migrants, who undergo biometric security checks, “will not cross Costa Rica clandestinely and unsafely,” said Costa Rican Security Minister Mario Zamora from Peñas Blancas. “This is very good news for migrants and for those who watch over the human rights of these people because this orderly flow keeps them away from migration mafias,” which charge up to 300 dollars for illegally crossing the border, Zamora said at a press conference alongside his Panamanian counterpart, Frank Ábrego.
The President of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, stated on Thursday that the number of migrants returning from the north “is on the rise.” According to the Panamanian president, more than 2,200 people, mostly Venezuelans, have returned in recent weeks. Panama has authorized the return of Venezuelan migrants to Colombia by boat. For days, hundreds of them have sailed from the Panamanian Caribbean to the Gulf of Urabá in Colombian territory.
“We are very committed to collaborating, especially with our other neighbor, Costa Rica (…), with all this accumulation of people that we have to help enter Panama with respect for their human rights,” Mulino said on Thursday.
