US sends migrants, including Indian national, to Costa Rica in new deportation policy

Costa Rica received a second group of migrants deported from the US under a third-country agreement, including an Indian national, offering options for voluntary return or residency amid concerns over migrants facing legal uncertainty abroad.

San Jose: Costa Rica on Friday received a second group of migrants — including an Indian — deported from the United States as part of an agreement to help the Trump administration’s latest policy of deporting immigrants to “third countries.”

Under a bilateral agreement signed in March by Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves and US Special Envoy Kristi Noem, Costa Rica has agreed to accept up to 25 third-country nationals expelled from the US each week.

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The first group of 25 deportees, which arrived at San Jose’s Juan Santamaría International Airport on Saturday, was assisted by Costa Rican migration police in coordination with the International Organisation for Migration.

A second group of third country deportees from the United States arrived in Costa Rica on Friday. The group of 30 deportees includes eight Costa Ricans, eight Brazilians, three Romanians, two Chinese nationals, three from Uzbekistan, two from Azerbaijan, one from Ireland, one from India, one from Vietnam, and one from Belarus.

Like the group that arrived Saturday, these people will be offered the opportunity to participate in the Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programme administered by the International Organisation for Migration to return to their countries of origin, or to apply for legal residency in Costa Rica under humanitarian categories through the standard process.

The Central American nation is one of a growing number of countries across Africa and the Americas that have signed contentious, often secretive agreements with the US to accept deportees from other countries as US President Donald Trump pressures governments to help him advance his agenda.

In many cases, migrants who previously hoped to seek asylum in the US are left in a legal “black hole” in foreign countries where they do not speak the language.

Countries who have agreed to receive third-party migrants include South Sudan, Honduras, Rwanda, Guyana and several Caribbean islands like Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis.

The first group sent to Costa Rica included migrants from Albania, Kenya, Morocco, China, India and Cameroon, in addition to eight people from Guatemala and four Honduran nationals.

The deportees were first taken to a hotel to receive assistance. During the first seven days in Costa Rica, they have the option of enrolling in a voluntary return programme. They can also opt to stay in Costa Rica through a temporary migration programme or request refugee status.

If the deportees choose to leave Costa Rica, they must inform local migration authorities and clarify whether they will need humanitarian support to leave or will pay for the trip themselves.