Panama prepares to transfer some 3,000 US-bound Cuban migrants to Mexico

Published on NewsOK
Published: May 2, 2016
Updated: 1 hour ago

Panama’s Foreign Ministry has started a census count of the more than 670 Cuban migrants currently housed in the Los Planes shelter in northern Chiriqui province, in anticipation for their expected transfer to Mexico in coming days.

Another 3,000 Cubans, most of whom are stranded on the border with Costa Rica, also will be allowed into the Los Planes shelter, counted and then transferred to Mexico — the final such airlift for Cuban migrants on trek to the United States, Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela said last week.

“Once the transfer of those Cubans included in the census is completed, those who arrive later will have to decide which country they want to return to,” Varela told local media as the country’s borders shut down to migrants in transit to the U.S. “We cannot become the logistical support for an irregular migration route.”

At least 100 Cubans making the trek are now in detention in Puerto Obaldia, on the border with Colombia, waiting for immigration authorities to determine their fate. Many more Cuban migrants are likely to face detention as they continue to travel from third countries through Central America as part of their route to reach the U.S.-Mexico border.

The census and relocation of migrants from hotels to the Los Planes shelter began last week.

“This is mostly pregnant women and families with children, who should be taken to a place that has the services they deserve,” Regional Migration Director Alfredo Cordoba said in a telephone interview, adding that the goal is “to concentrate all the migrants in an area where their basic necessities can be met.”

Cordoba added that the more than 3,000 Cuban migrants currently in Panama will be transferred by groups to Los Planes, where the government has mobilized a joint task force to handle the humanitarian crisis. The task force is made up of officials from the agencies in charge of civil emergencies, migration, border controls and the national police.

Angel Chale, one of the stranded Cubans, said he was hopeful he would soon resume his journey to the United States.

“I think we’re at the end of the process. At least they’re not still making photocopies of our passports. That’s something,” said Chale, who moved to Los Planes from an old warehouse about one mile from the border with Costa Rica, where he slept on the floor with another 400 Cubans.

Los Planes was originally built to house Swiss workers who worked on a nearby dam.

“It’s about 10 acres, with nice landscaping and all kinds of amenities,” said Angela Buendia, the director of the National Civil Defense System. “The only prohibition is that they cannot go out at night, for their own security.”

The complex will soon offer free Wi-Fi, but for now the migrants must connect on a local data network.

“The biggest problem I’ve had with the Cubans is that when they get here, because they come from a place without freedom, they feel completely free. And of course they sometimes confuse freedom with debauchery,” she added.

People smugglers have turned the northward flow of migrants into a business that generates millions of dollars in profits.

Since October of 2014, nearly 132,000 Central Americans and about 75,000 Cubans have crossed the U.S. border, according to immigration data.

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