Stranded Cuban migrants permitted to enter United States

At the meeting in Guatemala on Monday, attended by authorities from Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica and representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an agreement was reached with El Salvador to allow an unspecified number of migrants to be airlifted from Costa Rica to El Salvador, where they will continue by bus to Guatemala and Mexico.

Several nations in Central America have agreed to let the first of thousands of stranded Cuban migrants continue their journey north toward the United States next month. Costa Rica has started the deportation process for 56 Cubans who entered the country after it suspended the granting of temporary visas – and who are, therefore, illegal aliens.

Since mid-November, the number of Cuban migrants stuck in limbo inside Costa Rica’s northern border with Nicaragua has grown steadily.

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Manuel Gonzalez hailed its “positive results” and thanked the other countries for their “goodwill”.

Migrants became stranded in Costa Rica after Nicaragua, which is a close ally of Cuba, shut its borders in November, saying that Costa Rica had sparked a “humanitarian crisis” after Costa Rica issued transit visas to more than 1,000 Cubans.

Many of the Cuban refugees had flown from Havana to Ecuador, continuing on through Colombia and Panama, reaching Costa Rica.

“We have agreed to make the first humanitarian transfer in January.”

After the Nicaraguan government denied access to the migrants, they were forced to survive near the borders and providing shelter for them has badly stretched the resources of the country, said Costa Rica’s government, reported the Daily Mail.

The region is a gateway for Cuban migrants to the United States, where by setting foot on American soil, its immigration service is forced to receive them legally, a product of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which dates back to 1966.

Cuba has seen a spike in outward migration in the year since it and Washington announced they would re-establish diplomatic ties after more than five decades of open hostility.

On Sunday, Pope Francis urged Central American governments to show generosity in dealing with the situation. However, experts have long argued that the US policies encourage Cuban migrants to undertake unsafe journeys to reach America’s borders.