Following international criticism, Panama has released dozens of migrants deported by the US, which were held in a remote camp in the Central American nation for weeks. Panama officials have given him 30 days to decide on the next syllabus of his action, which leads to many uncertainty about his future.
Panama on Friday announced that it would provide a 30-day permit to 112 migrants exempted from the US. The government has cited human reasons behind the move, but the rights lawyers expressed concern that it could be a strategy for migrants to absent international investigation authorities for their treatment, while putting them in more danger.
According to Panama’s Security Minister Frank Abrego, the migrant – mostly from Asian countries – have been provided temporary human passes in the form of documents. Until they are valid, free migrants have to find their places to live, while they decide where they want to go further.
The pass will last for an initial 30 days, but can be renewed, Abrego told the Associated Press (AP).
He said, “They have 30 days to find out how to leave Panama, as they refused … to accept the international organization’s stay and help from the United Nations refugee agency and said that they wanted to do it themselves,” he said on Friday, a day ago, the migrants were freed.
Trump’s immigration crack
Since taking over on 20 January, President Donald Trump’s administration has initiated a large -scale action against illegal immigration in the US. The administration sent hundreds of people, children along with many families to Panama and Costa Rica as a stopover, while the authorities organized a way to send them back to their original countries.
Hundreds of deported people detained in a hotel in Panama City, noted, noted to argue their windows to help their windows and said they are afraid of returning to their countries.
Lawyers and human rights defenders warned that Panama and Costa Rica were turning into “black holes” for deports, and said that their release was a way of washing their hands for the Panamian authorities amid criticism of growing human rights.
Under the International Refugee Act, people have the right to apply for asylum when they are running away from conflict or harassment.
Those who refused to return home were later sent to a remote camp near the Panama border with Colombia, where they spent weeks under poor conditions, snatched from their phone, unable to reach the legal counsel and they were not told where they were going further.
‘Uncertain futures’
Many migrants released are now stranded in Panama without any resources or support. One of them is 29 -year -old Hayatullah Omgh, who fled from Afghanistan in 2022, when the Taliban controlled a legal limb, put forward a legal limb.
Talking to AP, he said, “We are refugees. We do not have money. We cannot pay for a hotel in Panama city, we do not have relatives.”
Omgh said, “I cannot go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances … it’s under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back.”
As an atheist and a member of an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan, known as Hazara, he said that returning home under the Taliban rule – who came back to power after being taken out of the country by the Biden administration – that means he would be killed. He went to America only after trying years to live in Pakistan, Iran and other countries, but was denied visas.
Omgh was deported after he was rejected after he was rejected to the US authorities to present themselves to the US authorities and to take shelter in the US.
“My hope was freedom. Just freedom,” he said. “They did not give me a chance. I asked many times to talk to a refuge officer and he told me that no, no, no, no.”
Officials have said that the exile will have the option to increase their stay for 60 days, if they need it, but after that, many people like Omgh do not know what they will do.
Human rights groups and lawyers advocating migrants help many of them find shelters and other resources, while dozens of others remained in the camp. Many of the migrants who were deported were running away from violence and repression in their domestic countries and could not return home.
Among them, 27 -year -old Nikita was Gaponov, who fled from Russia to be a part of the LGBTQ+ community. According to him, he was detained along the US border, but was not allowed to claim asylum. “Once I get off the bus (free from being free), I will sleep on the ground tonight,” Gaponov said.
Poor custody
Omgh and Gaponov are among 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other countries, who were freed after the Panamian government spent the weeks detained under poor conditions, stating that it is said that it wants to work with the Trump administration “to send a signal to people” for migrations “.
Despite the way of the house, Omgh said it was a relief to leave the camp. He and other migrants talked about the heat with detailed rare food, a little relief and aggressive Panaman officers for AP.
Expanding the condition of poor custody, the report stated that a small riot took place as the guard refused to give his phone to a migrant. It was later suppressed by the armed guard.
Meanwhile, Panaman officials denied allegations about the camp status, but blocked the journalists from reaching the camp and canceled a planned press journey last week.
While international aid organizations said that they would organize a third country visit to those who did not want to return home, the Panamanian officials said that those issued had already refused help.
Omgh said that he was told in the camp that he could be sent to a third country if it gives to the people of Afghanistan. He said that this would be incredibly difficult because some nations open their doors for people with an Afghan passport.
He said that he asked the officials in the camp several times whether he could take shelter in Panama, and said that he has been told that “we do not accept asylum”.
‘We have back’
Many of them are freeing their eyes once again, saying that even though they were already deported, they had no other option but to continue after crossing the world to reach America.
“None of them want to live in Panama. They want to go to America,” said Panama’s Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez in an interview with AP last month.
It was a case for some, such as a Chinese woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, fear of the results of the Panamian authorities.
“I still want to go to the United States and fulfill my American dream,” she said.
