- Friday, February 21, 2025
The Embassy of India in Panama, Costa Rica & Nicaragua took to X to share the information but did not provide data on the number of Indians arriving in Panama
By: India Weekly
PANAMA has informed India about the safe arrival of a group of Indians deported from the US and the Indian mission in the country is working closely with the host government to ensure their wellbeing after obtaining consular access to them.
The Embassy of India in Panama, Costa Rica & Nicaragua took to X on Thursday (20) to share the information but did not provide data on the number of Indians arriving in Panama.
The group of Indians is part of a larger group of 299 migrants sent to Panama by the US government.
These people arrived in the country on three flights last week after president Jose Raul Mulino agreed that Panama would become a “bridge” country for deportees.
The Trump administration has pledged to deport millions of people who crossed illegally into the US.
“Panamanian authorities have informed us that a group of Indians has reached Panama from the US,” the Embassy of India in Panama, Nicaragua and Costa Rica posted on X.
“They are safe and secure at a hotel with all essential facilities. The embassy team has obtained consular access. We are working closely with the host Government to ensure their wellbeing,” it said.
Early on Wednesday, the hotel in Panama City where the migrants had been held appeared quiet, according to a Reuters witness.
On Tuesday some migrants had been seen holding hands and looking out of a window of the hotel to get the attention of reporters outside.
Migrants in the hotel were not allowed to leave, according to media reports.
A Chinese national, Zheng Lijuan, escaped from the hotel, according to Panama’s migration service, but was later caught in Costa Rica and returned to Panama.
Three batches comprising a total of 332 Indians have already been sent back to India from the US amid an intensified crackdown by the Trump administration against illegal immigrants.
Out of the 299 undocumented migrants who landed in Panama, only 171 have agreed to return to their countries of origin.
Ninety-eight deportees who refused to voluntarily be repatriated to their countries have been sent to a camp in Panama’s Darien province.
Apart from India, the migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president.
One of the challenges of Trump’s plan is that some migrants come from countries that refuse to accept US deportation flights due to strained diplomatic relations or other reasons.
The arrangement with Panama allows the US to deport these nationalities and makes it Panama’s responsibility to organise their repatriation.
The process has been criticised by human rights groups that worry migrants could be mistreated and also fear for their safety if they are ultimately returned to violent or war-torn countries of origin, such as Afghanistan.
Costa Rica
Costa Rica is the second country that agreed to serve as a “bridge” to repatriate illegal immigrants in the US.
It will receive 200 deportees from Central Asia and India, including 50 children, deported by the United States on Thursday (20), President Rodrigo Chaves said.
These deportees will be transported by bus from the capital San Jose to a migrant facility some 360 kilometres away, near the border with Panama.
The president said they would not be able to leave the facility and would remain in Costa Rica only as long as absolutely necessary, probably “four, five, six weeks.”
Arrangements for their repatriation or dispatch to a third country would be handled by the US embassy in San Jose and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
All expenses will be covered by Washington, said Chaves. (Agencies)
