Dozens of Cuban migrants stranded at Costa Rica-Panama border

Record ID: 559712

  • Title: Dozens of Cuban migrants stranded at Costa Rica-Panama border
  • Date: 7th April 2017
  • Summary: PASO CANOAS, COSTA RICA (APRIL 6, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF PANAMA MIGRATION OFFICE ON THE BORDER OF COSTA RICA VARIOUS OF STRANDED CUBAN MIGRANTS OUTSIDE RESTAURANT (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN MIGRANT, YENIS VARIS PARGAS, SAYING: "They brought us here, to the border, at about 9:30 last night. The comrades (officials) from immigration distributed the passports to those of us who hadn't lost ours in the jungle and told us that we had to enter in an irregular and illegal manner here in Costa Rica, to take the shortcuts and not face off with anyone. To a certain degree, what they did was take away our protection, leave us to fate." CUBANS TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN MIGRANT, ALLUISKA CARDOZO, SAYING: "We have already been in Panamanian territory 90 days for Panama to have said yesterday: you have 48 hours to abandon Panamanian territory. In other words, abandon it the way they did to us: jump the border and then violate another border." STRANDED CUBANS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CUBAN MIGRANT, JUDY BERNABE GARCIA, SAYING: "We came looking for freedom, work, to have a better life that, unfortunately, we can't have in our country. We are not bad people. The only thing we want is for Costa Rica to take us in since other countries have treated us like... they have practically thrown us out of their country and no one wants us." VARIOUS OF CUBAN MIGRANTS AT BORDER BORDER CROSSING BETWEEN PANAMA AND COSTA RICA
  • Embargoed: 21st April 2017 19:22
  • Keywords: Cubans migrants Panama
  • Location: PASO CANOAS, COSTA RICA
  • City: PASO CANOAS, COSTA RICA
  • Country: Costa Rica
  • Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016BEJ4N7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Dozens of Cuban migrants are stranded on the Costa Rica border after Panamanian authorities gave them 48 hours to leave the country and escorted them to the northern border.
    The Cubans are among those who sold their houses and belongings to embark on a journey in pursuit of the American dream, but were stranded along the way after U.S. President Barack Obama repealed a measure that granted automatic residency to most Cubans who arrived in the United States, whether or not they had visas.
    At least 70 Cubans had been staying at a camp in the Darien jungle, on the south side of the country.
    According to the Cubans, Panamanian authorities arrived late one night, told them to board a bus, and drove them north to the border of Costa Rica. Once there, authorities handed the migrants their passports, told them to leave Panama and advised them that if they chose to cross the border to Costa Rica, they should do so through secondary paths and shortcuts, not through the main border crossing.
    The Cubans crossed into Costa Rica and are now hoping authorities there will authorize their stay so they can work and create.
    Millions of Cubans have resettled in the United States since the 1959 Cuban revolution brought the Castro brothers into power.
    When Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December of 2014 that the two countries were normalizing relations, a flood of Cubans left the island on rafts, hoping to reach the United States before any change in policy.
    In 2015, some 40,000 Cubans arrived in the United States in 2015 and about 54,000 in 2016. Obama repealed the "wet foot, dry foot" policy on January 12, 2017.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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