Panama will release 112 immigrants who had been deported by the United States last month and took place in a remote jungle camp, a minister said on Friday after lawyers and lawyers said the terms had violated Panama and the terms.
Immigrants come from countries where the United States cannot easily return the deports, often because these nations will not receive them.
Panama issues a 30 -day temporary humanitarian passes to immigrants to give them time to organize their return to their homeland or other countries wishing to take them, Panama’s Minister of Security, Frank ábrego, to reporters on Friday. He said the passages have a possible extension of up to 90 days.
The decision to release immigrants could represent another challenge in President Trump’s efforts to expel millions of immigrants from the United States.
In mid-February, when the United States began sending planeloads of people from Asia, Africa and the Middle East to Panama and Costa Rica-and then these countries began to lock the deportation-it appeared to have recruited two loud nations to help with the ambitious designs.
Pictures of people locked in a Panama hotel seemed a potentially strong deterrent to those who are thinking of migrating to the United States.
But Panama’s decision to release immigrants suggests that it can be more difficult than Trump’s administration hoped to push other nations to contribute to mass deportations.
The decision to liberate immigrants did not include the United States and was exclusively made by Panama officials, according to a person familiar with the debate among these officials who had not been authorized to speak publicly.
The liberalization amounted to the offer to the immigrants a form of temporary protected situation, the person said.
While the government would not offer immigrant hotels or other accommodation after abandoning the camp, known as San Vicente, immigrants would be addressed to refuge and other assistance, including asylum applications in other countries, the person said. Did not provide further details.
The US Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to comment request.
“It is difficult to delegate immigration policy because other countries have their own restrictions,” said Andrew Selee, president of the Institute of Migration Policy, a non -profit research organization.
“This was an offer by Panama’s government to buy some goodwill with Trump’s administration,” he added. “But it wasn’t yet a developed strategy.”
Mr ábrego said that of the 299 immigrants who had arrived from the United States, 177 had already returned voluntarily to their countries of origin and another 10 were expecting flights.
The remaining 112, including many children, come from Afghanistan, Iran and other nations and had been held in a camp for more than two weeks in a camp about four hours from the capital of Panama. They will be released in the coming days, Panama officials said.
People held in the United States, who cannot easily be repatriated, have an obstacle to Trump’s administration plans for deportations.
Immigrant families are also a challenge, because according to US law, authorities cannot hold families with children for prolonged periods.
The administration seemed to have found a solution last month by sending immigrants from other parts of the world to countries wishing to get them, such as Panama. The country is under huge pressure to determine Mr Trump, who threatened to take over the Panama channel.
The immigrants in San Vicente’s camp were among those who were flying to Panama in February and locked up in a hotel in the city center for several days. Those who did not agree to deport back to their countries or who could not easily be sent back for logistical support had been involved in the remote camp in eastern Panama, at the edge of Darién Gap.
The decision to release them comes as Panama president, José Raúl Mulino, is facing increasing pressure from human rights groups on the country’s decision to keep the team without charges.
It was also clear to officials that it would be very difficult to deport some of the immigrants – as Panama was planning to do – because many came from countries that have no diplomatic relations with the Central American nation.
If the Panama government had chosen to keep these people until he could displace them, he might have kept them for months or longer.
This month, an international coalition of lawyers filed a lawsuit against the Panama government before the Indian Committee on Human Rights, arguing that the detention of immigrants violated domestic and international laws, such as the US Convention on Human Rights.
In a statement, álvaro Botero Navarro, one of the lawyers in the case, called on the movement a “positive step”. But other coalition lawyers added that the government has not yet provided a solution to their customers, who say they have the right to seek asylum.
Panama officials have repeatedly said that two United Nations Organizations – the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Service – were responsible for the camp team.
But even the service did not exist daily in the camp. Instead, they are Panama officials who guard the camp, control access and execute daily businesses. The camp is a fenced campus, immigrants are not able to leave and journalists are not able to enter. Most immigrants inside have no access to a legal adviser, according to some immigrants who still have mobile phones.
Mr ábrego said in his observations that immigrants could speak to their lawyers today or tomorrow.
Jorge Gallo, a spokesman for IOM, said he was present at the camp on Friday, providing translation services and other assistance at the request of the Panama government. He said the organization “welcomes the decision” to liberate immigrants.
A Panama Ministry spokesman, Aurelio Martínez, said immigrants could move freely in the country, but for no more than 90 days.
“After these 90 days, if they stay in the country then they will remain illegally,” he added.
Mohammad Omagh, a 29 -year -old Afghan immigrant who was deported from California to Panama, said on Friday that he and a group of men were called to an office to sign various forms that allow them to be released.
When he asked if he could apply for asylum for Panama, he said the authorities told him that Panama did not accept asylum applications and staying in the long run was not an option.
He and the other 14 men, all of them single, signed the documents, he said.
“I was told that you can leave the camp and take a bus to the city of Panama or wherever you want to go. We are no longer responsible for you,” he said in a telephone interview from the camp. He said he didn’t have enough money to pay for hotels and meals.
“He feels that Panama just wants to get rid of us and do not want to be responsible for us,” Mr Omagh said.
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