Costa Rica Returns 66 Cubans to Panama for Illegal Entry

The General Directorate of Migration and Immigration of Costa Rica have returned 66 Cubans to Panama for entering the country illegally and have reiterated the official position of denying the entry of illegal migrants.

"The Costa Rican government rejects all citizens who are illegal, and who, upon checking their documents, are proved to come from that southern neighboring country," said a statement from Migration and Immigration, released on the Internet.

It states that 'according to figures from the Directorate General of Migration and Immigration, from August 1st to 3rd, 66 Cuban citizens were identified to have entered via Paso Canoas and have already been returned to Panama'.

The statement stresses that the Costa Rican government is respectful of human rights, but warns of their inability to continue receiving and taking care of new illegal migration flows.

Therefore, it says, the authorities will apprehend and initiate deportation proceedings against anyone who enters the national territory illegally.

These migrants use Central American countries as transit to the United States, a country whose legislation favors illegal migration of Cubans.

That policy is rejected by the governments of the region, because it is discriminatory against other nationalities.