Us Departs Migrants Stay in Panama Hotel: 299 migrants exempted from the US are temporarily kept in a hotel in Panama. Most of these migrant are from Asian countries, including India, Iran, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China. These migrant hotel windows are appealing to help by showing placards, which states “help us” and “We are not safe in our country”.
Panama is being used as a transit point due to difficulty in direct deportation of these migrants from the US. Panama has been made a temporary hideout for these migrants under a migration agreement between the US and Panama. The agreement was announced after the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month. The Panama government said that all the necessary facilities are being provided to these migrants in the hotel, and arrangements are being made to return their home.
Request to help migrants
However, in the hotel, the migrant windows were seen pleading for help, causing criticism to the Panama government. In the pictures, migrant placards are seen waving, in which they are mentioning about their insecurity and difficult situations. Panama Minister Frank Abrego said that migrants are not allowed only to go out of the hotel, but no other strictness has been done.
Plans to return home
Out of 299 migrants, 171 people have voluntarily agreed to return to their respective countries. Their return is being planned with the help of the International Migration Organization and the United Nations Refugee Agency. However, the rest of the migrants, who do not want to return their country, will be temporarily placed in a facility center in Darian province of Panama.