Panama has been an important transit route for illegal immigrants heading to the US border by foot through Mexico. According to media reports, Panama has held the migrants at a downtown hotel, called the Decapolis.
New Delhi: The Indian embassy in Panama on Thursday confirmed that the Indian nationals deported by the US to Panama along with hundreds of illegal immigrants are safe and the authorities in the small Central American nation have given consular access to them.
Sharing information about the safe arrival of the Indian deportees, the Indian embassy posted on X, “Panamanian authorities have informed us that a group of Indians have reached Panama from the US. 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.”
The Indian embassy in Panama also oversees diplomatic duties for two other small Central American nations — Nicaragua and Costa Rica. According to media reports, about 300 migrants, belonging to countries like India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Iran, among others, were deported by the US to Panama last week. Some of these have been shifted to a remote facility near the Darien jungle.
Panama has been an important transit route for illegal immigrants heading to the US border by foot through Mexico. According to media reports, Panama has held the migrants at a downtown hotel, called the Decapolis. While the deportees are not allowed to leave their hotel rooms, which are reportedly being guarded by the police, Panama’s security minister Frank Abrego has denied that the migrants have been “detained”.
In a press briefing, Mr Abrego was quoted as saying, “These people are not allowed to move around our country to guarantee the safety and the peace of Panamanian citizens. We are providing them with all the necessary medical, food and comfort services.”
Further, according to reports, visuals shared by news agencies outside the Decapolis Hotel showed several deportees waving at the reporters and holding up signs asking for help. “Help us,” one person, whose nationality was not immediately clear, wrote on the glass window.
Two other women held up paper signs reportedly saying, “Please save us. We are not save (safe) in our own country.” They also reportedly held up signs saying, “Please save Afghan girls.”
According to recent media reports, Costa Rica has also agreed to receive 200 deported illegal migrants from countries such as India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, starting Thursday.
All this comes in the wake of a few deportation flights from the US to India's Amritsar recently in which a total of more than 300 illegal Indian immigrants were sent back directly. The Trump administration has repeatedly made it clear that deportation of illegal immigrants is one of its top priorities.
