Costa Rica’s immigration service, the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME), is preparing for an eventual increase in the number of Nicaraguans entering the country due to the political crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing.
“We would have to assess the possibility of allowing admission, much more when people need to be safe or leave their country to avoid being in greater danger. In this sense, Costa Rica is very committed to special protection,” said Gisela Yockchen, Director of Migration.
So far, the immigration service has not registered any abrupt changes in the numbers of entering or leaving the country by way of the Peñas Blancas border with Nicaragua. However, there was a drop in the number of people leaving Costa Rica for Nicaragua.
This is partially due to the cancellation of services by bus operators, such as Transnica and Ticabus, that provide service between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, waiting on conditions to improve before resuming travel. The service has since been restored.
“We always anticipate estimating possible migratory situations generated by political situations in nearby countries and in this case we already know the situation,” said Yocken.
Wednesday marked the 8th continuous day of protests in Nicaragua. Figure from social organization say about 34 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in the clashes between protesters and police. Officials numbers are not available from the Daniel Ortega government.
