‘This situation warrants the declaration of a national emergency due to the number of people passing through our territory,’ said Chaves.
The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, announced this Tuesday, September 26, that he will soon sign a decree that will declare a national emergency due to the increase in migratory flows entering the country to travel and warned that the authorities will deport migrants who “behave badly”.
“This situation warrants the declaration of a national emergency because of the number of people passing through our territory,” said Chaves in his weekly press conference.
The National Emergency Commission will meet on Tuesday to make official the national emergency declaration, which will be signed by Chaves, to enable and accelerate the funds and resources to respond to the situation.
According to official data from Costa Rica, until now in September 60,000 migrants have entered from Panama through the border post in the Paso Canoas community, which has a population of 20,000 inhabitants.
Through the Darién, the inhospitable jungle that connects Colombia to Panama, 390,000 migrants have crossed this year, most of them Venezuelans, triggering a crisis in the region.
In Paso Canoas, the Costa Rican authorities set up a bus route that takes migrants to the Nicaraguan border, but most of them do not have the $30 per person ticket cost, which has created a concentration of hundreds of migrants in that community.
As Chaves announced on Tuesday, the authorities will soon adjust that plan so that migrants board buses in another location to avoid overcrowding.
Last week, authorities detained 27 migrants in Paso Canoas on suspicion of participating in riots against police when officers tried to stop street vendors.
“I ordered the Ministry of Public Security with a firm hand with some people who thought that the gentleness, kindness and generous hearts of Costa Ricans could be confused with weakness. I also ordered the General Directorate of Immigration and “Immigration will begin the process of deporting people who cause trouble, in Venezuela or in their country of origin,” Chaves said.
