Migrants Return and Try to Cross the Costa Rican-Panamanian Border

Some 170 migrants were detained and returned to Costa Rica after entering Panama illegally.  Security forces intervened at the border to prevent the group from advancing, as they attempted to cross Panamanian territory on their way back to their countries of origin.  For three days, more than 300 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, have remained stranded in Paso Canoas hoping to return home.  However, as they do not have the proper authorization to enter Panama, border authorities have reinforced controls in the area, generating discontent among travelers.  Yesterday, Tuesday, a caravan of migrants tried to advance about five kilometers into Panamanian territory, but was intercepted by riot police from Senafront “We went in search of a dream, but now we are going back home,” said a Venezuelan migrant frustrated by the circumstances.  Panama’s Minister of Public Security, Frank Alexis Ábrego, explained that the measure is part of an effort to guarantee a controlled flow of migrants. More on this story below:

Yesterday, on the border between Panama and Costa Rica, more than a hundred irregular migrants, mostly Venezuelans, were involved in a tense attempt to cross the border.  Authorities in Panama and Costa Rica have agreed to transfer migrants returning from the north of the continent to shelters on the borders, where they will then be returned to their countries of origin on planes paid for by the United States after detecting a “reverse migratory flow.”  Panamanian Security Minister Frank Ábrego explained that the meeting with his Costa Rican counterpart, Mario Zamora, “allowed for the establishment of an initial protocol to manage the return of irregular migrants, which includes their concentration at the Migrant Assistance Center (Catem) in Costa Rica.” 

From this Catem they would be transferred to Metetí (in Darién) or Los Planes de Gualaca (in Chiriquí), and later repatriated by air or sea to their countries of origin, in coordination with the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States.  Yesterday, on the border between Panama and Costa Rica, more than a hundred irregular migrants, mostly Venezuelans, engaged in a tense attempt to cross the border.  Senafront and National Police units stopped the passage of these migrants in the Quebrada Grande sector, and forced them to return to Costa Rican soil.  This year, 2,439 migrants have entered through Darién, 210 of them in February. By 2024, that number was 48,585.