After weeks of detention in a secluded camp in the Central American country, Panama has freed hundreds of migrants deported by the United States in response to international outrage. Many are unsure of their future after Panamanian officials gave them 30 days to choose their next move.
On Friday, Panama declared that 112 migrants who were deported from the United States will be granted 30-day permits. The administration has justified the action on humanitarian grounds, but human rights attorneys have voiced fears that this could be a ploy to shield the authorities from international criticism for how they have treated migrants while simultaneously endangering them.
Frank Abrego, Panama’s Security Minister, claims that temporary humanitarian visas have been issued to migrants, who come from a variety of countries, primarily in Asia. The liberated travelers must find their own lodging until their passes expire, at which point they must choose their next destination.
According to Abrego, the passes could be extended after their initial 30-day duration, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).
He stated on Friday, the day before migrants were released, that “they have exactly 30 days to find out how to leave Panama, because they rejected… to take help from the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency and claimed that they wanted to do it themselves.”
The administration of President Donald Trump has begun a huge crackdown on illegal immigration in the United States since taking office on January 20. Hundreds of people, many of whom were families with children, were transported by the government to Panama and Costa Rica as a stopover while officials worked out a plan to return them to their home countries.
When hundreds of deportees confined in a Panama City hotel displayed letters to their windows begging for assistance and stating that they were afraid to return to their home countries, the arrangement stoked human rights concerns.
In the face of growing human rights criticism, lawyers and human rights campaigners warned that Panama and Costa Rica were becoming “black holes” for deportees and claimed that their release was a tactic used by Panamanian officials to distance themselves from the deportees.
People who are escaping persecution or violence have the right to request for asylum under international refugee law.
Those who refused to go home were then taken to an isolated camp close to Panama’s border with Colombia, where they lived in substandard conditions for weeks. They were also denied access to phones, legal representation, and information about their next destination.
Now, a large number of the freed migrants remain stuck in Panama without any help or supplies. Hayatullah Omagh, 29, is one of them. He fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban gained power, leaving him in a legal limbo and frantically trying to figure out how to proceed.
The man told AP, “We are refugees. We have no money. We do not have any family, thus we can not afford a motel in Panama City.”
“Under no circumstances can I return to Afghanistan… The Taliban is in charge of it, and they intend to murder me. “How can I return?” Omagh bemoaned.
He said that he would be assassinated if he returned to Afghanistan under the Taliban’s authority, which retook power after the Biden administration left the country, because he is an atheist and a member of the Hazara ethnic minority. After years of trying to reside in Pakistan, Iran, and other nations but being refused visas, he finally traveled to the US.
After presenting himself to American officials and requesting and being granted asylum in the US, Omagh was deported.
Freedom was what I hoped for. Only freedom,” he declared. “They denied me the opportunity. I repeatedly requested to talk with an asylum officer, but they consistently refused.
Deportees will have the opportunity to extend their stay by 60 days if necessary, according to authorities, but many, like Omagh, are unsure of what will happen after that.
Many of the migrants were assisted in finding accommodation and other resources by human rights organizations and attorneys who supported them, while scores of others stayed in the camp. Many of the deported migrants were unable to return home because they were escaping oppression and violence in their native countries.
One of them was Nikita Gaponov, 27, who left Russia because of persecution for belonging to the LGBTQ+ group. He claims that despite being held at the US border, he was not let to apply for asylum. Gaponov declared, “I will be sleeping on the earth tonight once I get off the bus (with freed deportees).”
The Panamanian government, which has stated that it wants to collaborate with the Trump administration “to send a signal of deterrence” to those who wish to migrate, released Omagh and Gaponov along with 65 other migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, and other countries after they had been held in appalling conditions for weeks.
Omagh said it was a relief to leave the camp, even though there was no way home. He and other migrants who spoke to the AP described the harsh Panamanian authorities, the lack of food, and the oppressive heat with little respite.
According to the report, which detailed the appalling circumstances in prison, a little brawl started when guards refused to give a migrant their phone. Later, armed guards put an end to it.
While Panamanian authorities refuted allegations regarding the circumstances in the camp, they also prevented media from entering the camp and canceled a scheduled press visit last week.
International relief agencies promised to arrange for anyone who refused to return home to fly to a third country, but Panamanian officials said that those who had been freed had already turned down assistance.
Omagh claimed that while in the camp, he was informed that if a third nation granted visas to Afghans, he might be moved there. Since few countries welcome visitors with an Afghan passport, he noted, that would be extremely challenging.
He claimed that authorities in the camp informed him repeatedly that “we do not accept asylum” when he asked if he could apply for asylum in Panama.
Many of those who have been released are looking north once more, claiming that after traveling around the world to get to the US, they had no choice but to keep going despite having already been deported.
“They all have no desire to remain in Panama. In an interview with the AP last month, Panama’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez, stated, “They want to get to the US.”
For others, such as a Chinese woman who talked to the AP under anonymity out of concern for possible reprisals from Panamanian officials, that was the case.
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