(QCOSTARICA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the Chancellery – described this Tuesday as “unfeasible and unrealistic” to open a humanitarian corridor on the border to assist Nicaraguans seeking to leave their country, an idea raised in a letter by a Nicaraguan human rights organization.
“That is not contemplated in future actions in the region,” the Foreign Ministry reported in a statement.
Foreign Minister Rodolfo Solano declared that the Government will maintain the institutional work that “has allowed the rejection of more than 15,500 people who tried to enter the country irregularly (illegally),” since the pandemic began last March.
The approach to the humanitarian corridor was made by the Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights (Asociación Nicaragüense Pro Derechos Humanos).
In turn, the Foreign Ministry denied that the country is open to receiving foreign patients with coronavirus.
Solano explained that the only case so far is that of an official of the United Nations (UN) who was in Haiti, and who was admitted through a humanitarian agreement that guarantees the evacuation of UN officials to countries where the risk is lower and the Health crisis management is good.
The expenses are borne by the international organization and the official is being treated in a private hospital.
“This health evacuation plan has been established by the country team of the United Nations system in Costa Rica, with the network of private hospitals present in our territory.”
“The strength of the national health system, both publicly and privately, is recognized by the international community and in particular by the United Nations, and proof of this is the designation of Costa Rica as one of the destinations for the plan sanitary evacuation ”, said the Foreign Minister in a statement.
He added that the arrival of the UN official was a request from the international organization, which the government describes as “Costa Rica’s strategic partner in the multilateral arena.”
For its part, the UN office in Costa Rica reported that medical evacuation is only carried out in exceptional situations, once efforts to ensure adequate care in the countries of residence of UN officials are exhausted.
“Although Costa Rica has a robust and solid health system, if the country’s hospital capacity were affected by any event or public health situation, under no circumstances would other UN officials evacuate to Costa Rica,” Solano said.
He specified that the UN person from Haiti, with Covid-19, suffers from underlying pathologies, requiring specialized care that is difficult to obtain in the country where he works.
