QCOSTARICA – Immigration authorities of Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia said this week that they are organizing a meeting with international organizations, to speed up the disbursement of the funds that the first of these countries urgently require to address the migration problem.
The matter was raised at the second trilateral technical meeting of the Directors of Immigration of Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia, through whose territories hundreds of thousands of migrants, especially Venezuelans, have transited this year on their way to the United States.
The meeting, held virtually on Wednesday, concluded with the request that a meeting be arranged with international organizations that have to do with the migration problem before the first week of December, said a statement from the Panamanian Foreign Ministry.
According to the statement, the meeting “will be managed by the United States, so that there is an adequate channeling of the funds that these international organizations must allocate in support of Panama, mainly, which requires urgent help to continue to deal with the situation.
Costa Rica’s Director of Immigration, Marlen Luna Alfaro, explained the situation of Venezuelan migrants who are in transit in Costa Rica and requested support to increase human resources and address the challenges generated by this flow.
Luna pointed out that “it is not fair that Costa Rica continues to have all the work of caring for this population because the countries that expel migrants are not responsible. There are countries with a better economic condition than us that can help us, but the aid is also very little, it is very little for the excessive number of requests”.
The United States policy of October 12, 2022, aimed at closing the borders to Venezuelans lowered the flow that was very strong. Of the many migrants, the Venezuelans, due to their large numbers, are the most visible in the streets of San Jose and other parts of the greater metropolitan area, looking for help from passersby.
Read more: Migrants flow through Darien to Panama decreases “considerably”
The Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the United States Department of State, Emily Mendrala, indicated for her part that the meeting will be arranged with organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and others involved in the migration issue, according to official information.
More than 210,000 migrants in transit to the US have entered Panama through the Darién Gap, the border with Colombia.