GENEVA, Switzerland—Nearly 23,000 people fleeing turmoil in Nicaragua have sought asylum in neighboring Costa Rica, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday, as it announced a beefed up presence in the region.
As many as 200 refugees at a time from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — the so-called Northern Triangle — will be allowed to stay in Costa Rica for up to six months while they are processed for potential asylum in the U.S. or elsewhere.
Six months after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced plans to expand options for Central Americans fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries, those plans have yet to emerge.
Vice Minister of the Interior Carmen Muñoz told The Tico Times that the cease-fire announcement between Colombia and the FARC could result in a drop in the number of asylum-seekers from Colombia.
Finding a country willing to accept these migrants is going to be a herculean task, if not "impossible," says the Migration Policy Institute's Demetrios Papademetriou.
