Human rights groups and lawyers were waiting at the bus terminal on Saturday (8) and try to find shelter for them; Authorities say that the deported can extend to stay for 60 days
After weeks of lawsuits and criticism from human rights organizations, he released him on Saturday (8), dozens that they were arrested in a remote field after being deported by, saying they have 30 days to leave the Central American country. This puts many in a legal limb and the challenge of finding a way forward. Among them is Hayatullah Omagh, a 29 -year -old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control.
“We are refugees. We have no money. We can’t pay for a hotel in Panama City, we have no relatives, ”Omagh told Associated Press. “I can’t go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances… it’s under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I come back? ”
Authorities said the deported ones will have the option of extending their stay for 60 days, if necessary, but after that many, like Omagh, do not know what to do. Omagh got out of a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other nations, after spending weeks detained in precarious conditions by the Panamanian government, who said he wants to work with the government of the president of the US President Donald Trump, “to send a sign of dissuasion” to people who want to migrate.
Shelter
Human rights groups and lawyers who defend migrants were waiting at the bus terminal and strive to find shelter and other resources for them. Dozens of other people remained in the field. Among those who have descended from the buses are migrants running away from violence and repression in Pakistan and Iran, and 27 -year -old Nikita Gaponov, who fled Russia due to the repression of being part of the LGBTQ+community.
He said he was detained on the US border, but was not allowed to make an asylum request. “When I get off the bus, I’m going to sleep on the floor tonight,” he said. Others turned their eyes to the north once again, saying that although they had already been deported, they had no choice but to continue after crossing the world to reach the US.
Agreement between Trump, Panama and Costa Rica
The deported, in much of Asian countries, are part of a closed agreement between the Trump administration and Panama and Costa Rica, while the US government. The US government has sent hundreds of people, many families with children, to both Central American countries as a scale while authorities organize a way to send them back to their home countries.
Critics described this as a US form to export their deportation processes. The agreement generated concerns about human rights when hundreds of deported detainees in a hotel in Panama city put tickets on their windows begging for help and saying they were afraid to return to their countries.
According to International Refugee Law, people have the right to request asylum when they run away from conflicts or persecution. Those who refused to return home were later sent to a remote camp near the Panama border with Colombia, where they spent weeks in poor condition, were deprived of their phones, unable to obtain legal counseling and were not informed where they would go next.
Lawyers and human rights advocates warned that Panama and Costa Rica were becoming “black holes” for the deported, and said their release was a way for the Panamanian authorities to wash their hands in the growing criticism.
When released Saturday night, lawyers identified at least three people who needed medical attention. One was vomiting for over a week, another deported had diabetes and had not had access to insulin in the field, and someone else had HIV and also had no access to drugs in detention.
Panamanian authorities denied accusations of field conditions, but blocked journalists’ access to the scene and canceled a planned press visit last week. While international humanitarian aid organizations said they would organize trips to a third country for people who did not want to return home, Panamanian authorities said people released had already refused help.
*With information from Estadão Conteudo and Associated Press
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
