Scores of migrants from Africa have been left stranded in Costa Rica after they were denied entry into Nicaragua on their way overland north to the United States, media reported.
According to the Costa Rican Red Cross, some 2,000 migrants largely from Africa, Asia and Haiti have come to Costa Rica. Many use the country as a crossing point north for the American dream.
But the overland route to the U.S. is via Nicaragua and that country has refused to open up its border.
Men, women and children have set up a makeshift camp at the border area of Penas Blancas in the hope that the border will open up to them.
“Actually, we are just hoping that they might open the border because no one is leaving here to go backwards because there is nowhere to go back. You understand, more people are coming everyday, we are receiving to about 50 to 100 people everyday. Right now we are about 3,000 of us and more are still coming so if they don’t open the border we will stay here forever,” said Congolese migrant, Banchue Bhotoos.
Despite increasing numbers of migrants amassing on the border and fears of a humanitarian crisis, Nicaragua has maintained its hardline stance on the migrants.
“The people here have no water, they have no place to wash, toilet paper, they have nothing here. It’s been raining every day. Every day, all day raining and raining. We want to know why Costa Rica has us here,” said Congolese migrants, Aron MacKenzie.
Many of the African and Asian migrants reportedly paid human smugglers money to reach Central America in the hope of getting to the United States.
The influx of African and Asian migrants follows a regional crisis earlier this year after Cuban migrants sought passage north to the United States through Central America.
Deadlock was broken after Nicaragua and Costa Rica agreed to airlift more than 7,000 Cuban nationals to the U.S. border via Mexico.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016
