{"id":249255,"date":"2025-03-01T02:46:17","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T02:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/01\/migrants-deported-to-panama-jungle-camp-face-uncertain-future\/"},"modified":"2025-03-01T02:46:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T02:46:17","slug":"migrants-deported-to-panama-jungle-camp-face-uncertain-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/03\/01\/migrants-deported-to-panama-jungle-camp-face-uncertain-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrants Deported to Panama Jungle Camp Face Uncertain Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28panama-migrants-ztbw\/28panama-migrants-ztbw-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Migrants Deported to Panama Jungle Camp Face Uncertain Future\" title=\"Migrants Deported to Panama Jungle Camp Face Uncertain Future\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The camp lies four hours from Panama\u2019s capital, down a bumpy, often desolate highway, at the edge of a treacherous jungle called the Dari\u00e9n.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For more than a week, it has held more than 100 asylum seekers from around the world. Surrounded by fences and armed guards, they sleep on cots or hard benches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Journalists have been barred, lawyers say they have been blocked from speaking to their clients and it is the government in charge \u2014 not the international aid groups Panamanian officials say are the ones organizing the operation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The migrants are <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/13\/us\/politics\/trump-deportations-panama.html\" title=\"\">among several hundred people<\/a> who arrived in recent weeks at the U.S. southern border, hoping to seek asylum in the United States, and were swiftly deported to Central America.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/world\/americas\/trump-migrant-deportation-panama.html\" title=\"\">since become test cases<\/a> in the Trump administration\u2019s effort to send some of its most challenging-to-deport people to other countries. Of the roughly 300 people sent to Panama, more than half have agreed to be repatriated, according to President Ra\u00fal Mulino.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Another 112 have said that it is too dangerous for them to go home or that they lack documentation allowing them to do so. Now they are at the camp by the jungle with no sense of how long they will be held or where they may be sent next.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Though their numbers are small, their cases point to the tension between the Trump administration\u2019s aims of expelling vast numbers of migrants and the limits of Latin American countries working to facilitate those ambitions \u2014 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/americas\/us-migrants-panama-jungle-camp.html\" title=\"\">under enormous pressure<\/a> from President Trump.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Panama, like the United States, cannot easily deport people to places like Afghanistan and Iran, often because those countries refuse to take back their citizens.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Those trapped at the camp include at least eight children, as well as women fleeing the Taliban in Afghanistan and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/23\/world\/middleeast\/this-christian-convert-fled-iran-and-ran-into-trumps-deportation-policy.html\" title=\"\">Christian converts<\/a> fleeing the government in Iran. None have been charged with crimes, according to Panamanian officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A few people inside the camp still have access to cellphones and have been able to communicate with The New York Times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe told them: You are treating us like prisoners,\u201d said Sahar Bidman, 33, a mother of two from Iran. \u201cWhen I want to take my children to the shower they escort us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Panamanian officials struggle to figure out what to do with this group, they have faced growing criticism from lawyers and human rights activists.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Gehad Madi, a United Nations special rapporteur who was permitted to visit the camp in recent days, emerged with pointed critique. He called it a \u201cdetention center\u201d and said he was \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/en\/press-releases\/2025\/02\/colombia-and-panama-strengthened-collaboration-key-human-rights-migrants-and\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">extremely concerned<\/a>\u201d about the legal basis for holding the migrants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A petition of habeas corpus presented by a Panamanian lawyer to the country\u2019s supreme court claims the group\u2019s internment is illegal. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino told reporters on Thursday that the migrants at the camp, called San Vicente, were awaiting documentation, which some lacked and would need to travel. He did not explain how the government planned to deport people, or say if it would offer people asylum in Panama or facilitate passage to a different country willing to take them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Asked why the detainees had not been allowed to speak to lawyers, he answered: \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States, through the U.N. Refugee Agency, is paying for food, lodging and other needs of the deported migrants, said Carlos Ruiz-Hern\u00e1ndez, Panama\u2019s vice minister of foreign affairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Panamanian officials have denied that the conditions at San Vicente are prisonlike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said questions about the migrants should be directed to Panama.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThese individuals are in the custody of the Panamanian government,\u201d she said, \u201cnot the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino had earlier said that the migrants\u2019 arrival in his country was \u201cbeing organized\u201d by two United Nations agencies, \u201cnot by the government of Panama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But one of those agencies, the U.N. Refugee Agency, said in a statement that it was not actually working inside the camp and was simply providing funds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The other agency, the International Organization for Migration, has also not been regularly present in the Dari\u00e9n camp, according to a person with close knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak about it publicly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It has focused on arranging repatriation for those who volunteered for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At least two groups, the Red Cross and UNICEF, have begun providing aid in the camp in recent days, according to migrants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Ruiz-Hern\u00e1ndez, in a written response to questions from The Times, said, \u201cWe want to assure the public that all migrants at San Vicente continue to receive comprehensive support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOur government,\u201d he continued, \u201cremains dedicated to upholding human dignity and addressing the needs of every individual within our care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Bidman is one of 10 Iranian Christians at San Vicente who said they had left their country in the hopes of practicing their religion freely in the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Instead, the U.S. government in mid-February flew them from California to Panama City, where they were locked in a hotel for about a week. After they refused deportation, they were bused to the San Vicente camp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Converts from Islam to Christianity in Iran face a possible punishment of death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The group is given three meals a day, and when Ms. Bidman\u2019s son, Sam, age 11, injured his leg he was taken to a clinic where a doctor examined him and provided painkillers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After a visit from the Red Cross and UNICEF, conditions inside improved slightly, several of the Iranians said, with camp authorities cleaning living quarters and the showers and providing a water cooler.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAt the beginning when we arrived here the kids cried every day,\u201d Ms. Bidman said. \u201cI keep telling them this is temporary and at the end of it we will go someplace nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The people held at San Vicente are part of a much larger migration challenge for Central American nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Starting in 2021, enormous numbers of people began trekking from South America into Panama, through the Dari\u00e9n jungle, in an attempt to reach the United States. With Mr. Trump promising mass deportations, the wave is starting to go in reverse, with migrants trudging south from Mexico.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DGBFUS2RW4X\/?igsh=MWRpa2pia2d6cDl3eg==\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a> he is considering flying Venezuelan migrants from Panama to Colombia, where they could cross by land back into Venezuela. (Lacking relations with Venezuela, he cannot simply send them to Caracas.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This has drawn at least 2,000 people, including many Venezuelans, to Panama in recent weeks, said Mr. Mulino, even though no flights have materialized.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Instead, some returning migrants have begun taking dangerous, hourslong boat rides from Panama to Colombia, over choppy waters. One boat shipwrecked this month amid bad weather, resulting in the drowning of an eight-year-old girl, according to border police.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Many returnees are now waiting at a different government migrant camp, called Lajas Blancas, about 40 minutes from San Vicente. There, six migrants told The Times that Panamanian officials were the ones signing people up for the boat journeys.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Mulino has acknowledged the existence of these maritime trips. Asked about official involvement, Mr. Ruiz-Hern\u00e1ndez said the country had \u201cimplemented a comprehensive approach to ensure the safety and protection of migrants being repatriated to their home countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Zulimar Ramos, 31, one of the Venezuelans at Lajas Blancas, said she was considering taking one of the boat rides, despite the dangers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe American dream is dead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Panama is not the only country pressed by the Trump administration to accept deportees from around the world. In February, Costa Rica received 200 people from Central Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, including dozens of children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As in Panama, the migrants are being held at a remote facility some six hours from the capital. Omer Badilla, the head of the country\u2019s migration authority, has said people were being held to protect them from falling prey to traffickers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For family members of the deportees, the lack of clarity about the length and terms of their detention has been painful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Farzana, 22, who lives in Canada, said her sister was among those held at the Panamanian camp. The sister had entered the United States earlier this year, hoping to traverse the nation and seek refuge in Canada, Farzana said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Concerned her sister would face retaliation at the camp if a family member spoke out, Farzana asked that only her first name be used.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A lawyer working with the women, Leigh Salsberg, said she has been trying to get in touch someone at the camp with no success.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt feels like these people are in a black hole,\u201d she said, \u201cand it seems that no one is actually in contact with them at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Farzana cried as she told her sister\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s really hard for me,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really worried about her. But I can\u2019t do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Federico Rios<!-- --> contributed reporting from Metet\u00ed, Panama.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/28\/world\/americas\/panama-migrants-deportees.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The camp lies four hours from Panama\u2019s capital, down a bumpy, often desolate highway, at the edge of a treacherous jungle called the Dari\u00e9n. For more than a week, it has held more than 100 asylum seekers from around the world. Surrounded by fences and armed guards, they sleep on cots or hard benches. Journalists [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/28\/multimedia\/28panama-migrants-ztbw\/28panama-migrants-ztbw-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8800,179781,5500,40634,163575,2086,739,90287,172006,174110,9008,53,11920,137131,52,11071,7204,176016,1021,128437,3346],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249257,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249255\/revisions\/249257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}