- Title: COSTA RICA: Cuban denied entry to Costa Rica goes on airport hunger strike
- Date: 16th May 2014
- Summary: SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA (MAY 14, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AIRPORT CUSTOMS AT AIRPORT VARIOUS OF CUBAN MAN ON HUNGER STRIKE, YORVANKY PEREZ DE PINA, AT DORM ROOM AT AIRPORT LEGAL PAPERS FOR PEREZ DE PINA FOOD FOR PEREZ DE PINA STILL IN PACKAGING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN MAN ON HUNGER STRIKE, YORVANKY PEREZ DE PINA, SAYING: "Imagine arriving at 10pm at night, my wif
- Embargoed: 31st May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Costa Rica
- Country: Costa Rica
- Topics: International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVABTNU1N2VO0218JLZ922Z0ADAI
- Story Text: A Cuban man in limbo at Costa Rica's international airport has gone on a hunger strike after being barred entry in the Central American nation, claiming he would be in danger if he is deported back to Cuba.
Yorvanky Perez de Pina has been living in Juan Santamaria International Airport for nearly three weeks and has reportedly been refusing food for nine days after his asylum request was denied for a third time.
The Cuban national had been living in Costa Rica since 2012 and is married to a Costa Rican woman, but was refused re-entry after returning from a trip abroad.
"Imagine arriving at 10pm at night, my wife is waiting outside here and they say I can't enter, that I needed to stay. I then say, but my wife can I call her? No, you can't call her. I went up to pay the airline to deport me," he said.
A previous attempt to deport Perez de Pina had failed after he smeared his body in his own faeces, with airline staff refusing to allow the Cuban to board the flight. The Cuban told Reuters he was expelled from Cuba and would be jailed if he returns home.
"Of course I'm scared they're going to send me (to Cuba) again. My last day in Cuba was on April 25th, they expelled me from Cuba, they said I have to go. And here they're after me. (Reporter: And what will happen if you go back?) I will be imprisoned, for sure," he added.
Perez de Pina's desperate wife Yorleny Marlin has turned to Costa Rican President Guillermo Solis for help, reportedly securing his assistance in the case.
"I called on President Guillermo Solis yesterday to help me on humanitarian issues, he gave me his hand and said he would do it. Yorvanky's been detained at the airport for 20 days and nine days since eating," she said.
According to officials, Perez the Pina was refused entry into Costa Rica after he had failed to produce a current visa and had used an expired work permit at the airport.
"In this case, the man tried to enter without a visa and tried to use a temporary work permit which was given in his previous refugee paperwork so he could work while his case is being resolved. In light of this case now being resolved, it was rejected, this work permit was expired so what he needed to show was an authorised visa which he did not have," said Migration Director, Kattia Rodriguez.
Earlier this month, Costa Rica's migration authority refused the Cuban man's request for asylum. Perez de Pina's lawyers have filed for an appeal at the country's Migratory Court hoping for a reprieve. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None