Costa Rica anticipates the return of 75,000 Nicaraguans

Translation by Brian Schwarz

Originally published December 30, 2009 in “La Prensa” of Managua, Nicaragua (laprensa.com.ni) under the heading Costa Rica espera el retorno de 75 mil nicas by Josué Bravo

PENAS BLANCAS, COSTA RICA – Costa Rican border authorities at Peñas Blancas and Los Chiles have been preparing since December 28 to facilitate the entrance of tens of thousands of Nicaraguans who, before and during Christmas, left through these borders to vacation in their homeland.

Migration and immigration director Mario Zamora calculates that most of the estimated 75,000 Nicaraguans who work in Costa Rica and left for vacation during this December holiday season will return to the country either Friday, January 1 or Sunday, January 3.

To manage the inflow, the control operation that facilitated [the Nicaraguans’] exit will be reversed, Zamora said. Besides providing more support at migration windows, police control in Peñas Blancas, Los Chiles and the surrounding areas will be amplified in order to confiscate false documents and prevent the passage of illegals [into the country].

It is during these final days of December and early January that large quantities of Nicaraguans are turned away from the border for evading migratory controls. Between December 28, 2008 and January 7, 2009, border officials turned away 2,400 Nicaraguans who had entered illegally at Peñas Blancas and Los Chiles

Figures for this season’s [migration] have not yet been released by the public safety ministry.

The safety ministry did report that as the Nicaraguans were departing, safety minister Janina del Vecchio and public forces chief Erick Lacayo visited Peñas Blancas where they verified the dynamic flow of people across the border and confirmed the high level of collaboration between the two countries’ police forces and with the Nicaraguan military.

Today and January 3, Peñas Blancas will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. On January 1 the service schedule will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And from January 3 to January 7, the schedule will return to 6 a.m. to midnight.

In Peñas Blancas, as with other of the country’s borders, migration [officials] installed an electric plant to avoid computer crashes in the case of power outages.