Number of Nicaraguan Migrants’ requests to Costa Rica Decreases

The Director of Costa Rica’s Immigration service, Raquel Vargas, said on Tuesday that they are not suffering from an immigration disorder.

“We are not in a situation that forces us to declare a national emergency, or that we already exceed our capabilities.”

During an interview on a radio program, Vargas addressed the issue of Nicaraguan migrants. She explained that during the months of June and July Costa Rica received a total of 21,000 requests, while in this month of August there were only 5,000, which shows a drastic reduction.

“The interesting thing is that in two months we talked about the highest percentage of refugee claimants and in August there is a shocking decrease, which shows that there is evidently a drop in (Nicaraguans) coming to Costa Rica,” she said.

Vargas explained that they have established a plan integrated by working groups, which includes security, health, international cooperation and with which they intend to establish a constant monitoring of the situation of the territory.

“When, for example, we say that we have thousands and thousands of people and there are people sleeping in the parks, the first thing we do as a public institution is to verify, go to the field and verify that we do not have these situations,” explained Vargas.

The news of the decrease of migrants is making bigger headlines in Nicaragua than in Costa Rica.

Source: Qcostarica.com