Panama and Costa Rica can't turn into 'black hole' for migrants, Human Rights Watch says

Concerns among migrant advocates arise as officials in Costa Rica and Panama are confiscating migrants’ passports and cellphones and denying them access to legal services.

MIRAMAR, Panama (AP) — Officials in Costa Rica and Panama are confiscating migrants’ passports and cellphones, denying them access to legal services and moving them between remote outposts as they wrestle with the logistics of a suddenly reversed migration flow.

The restrictions and lack of transparency are drawing criticism from human rights observers and generating increasingly testy responses from officials, who say their actions are aimed at protecting the migrants from human traffickers.

Both countries have received hundreds of deportees from various nations sent by the United States as President Donald Trump’s administration tries to accelerate deportations. At the same time, thousands of migrants shut out of the U.S. have started moving south through Central America — Panama recorded 2,200 so far in February.

“We’re a reflection of current United States immigration policy,” said Harold Villegas-Román, a political science professor and refugee expert at the University of Costa Rica. “There is no focus on human rights, there is only focus on control and security. Everything is very murky, and not transparent.”

Earlier this month, the U.S. sent 299 deportees from mostly Asian countries to Panama. Those who were willing to return to their countries — about 150 to date -- were put on planes with the assistance of United Nations agencies and paid for by the U.S.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/panama-costa-rica-black-hole-migrants-rcna194275

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