After a month in a Costa Rican shelter, many deported from the U.S. still have no home

NEILY, Costa Rica — After being deported from the U.S. with his wife and 6-year-old son, German Smirnov, a Russian national, is being held at a migrant camp in the Central American country.

NEILY, Costa Rica — After being deported from the U.S. with his wife and 6-year-old son, German Smirnov, a Russian national, is being held at a migrant camp in the Central American country. After more than a month there, he says he feels he is being forced to consider staying there to live.

Smirnov, 36, is among 110 migrants, mostly from Asian and African countries, who have been detained at the Center for Temporary Attention of Migrants (CATEM) since late February and now find themselves in limbo. 

Many of the detainees tell Noticias Telemundo they’re confused and torn over the limited options being offered by Costa Rican officials, including applying for asylum there, going back to their home countries, waiting it out in the shelter or officially documenting their case to request asylum in another country. It’s all while enduring high temperatures and poor food and conditions.

But many of the migrants say they don’t have a safe country to return to and little information to help them. 

For the first time since the migrants arrived from the U.S., and following weeks of pressure from activists and lawmakers, Costa Rican authorities have opened up the camp to the media. Several migrants who have had their documents confiscated said that they feel they have few choices about what comes next.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/migrants-us-deported-costa-rica-camp-rcna198910

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