locals have managed to interview some of the deportees who were sent here on their way to Asia and other countries. they're bored, isolated, it's too damn hot, but they say "people are nicer and the food is much better" so that's something.
I also learned they are not detained, can leave the facilities for some shopping and local errands, and come back. among other things they have to be protected from kidnapping by traffickers. https://delfino.cr/2025/03/migrantes-sin-destino-deportado-por-donald-trump-narra-su-vivencia-en-costa-rica
a worse alternative is just to "release" them with zero resources https://www.nbcnews.com/world/latin-america/panama-releases-dozens-detained-deportees-us-limbo-human-rights-critic-rcna195526
one interesting bit is that locals are having trouble convincing people that tap water is safe to drink, and of course there's not enough bottled water (because in CR that's not a 1st order need, the water is fine). aside from language barrier issues, I would also have trouble believing the water is fine in a rural area in a tiny poor country, but it really is! we have a good system.
@lzg vives en Costa Rica? A pensado de mover ahí
@lzg What's Costa Rica's asylum policy like? Would the Russian guy be able to apply and have some reasonable chance of getting it?
@crzwdjk probably? I honestly don't know. the article says no one has applied for a CR temporary stay or asylum, the guy interviewed says they're still hoping to find a more suitable 3rd country (english speaking, not so hot)
@lzg yeah the language barrier is a big one, and I don't know if there's much of a Russian community in Costa Rica.
@lzg can they leave? The detention situation of these people has been really opaque.
@eco_amandine in theory they could request a temporary status in CR, but none of them have. unfortunately there's nowhere for them to go. Panama "released" a lot of them and that's even worse: they have no money, don't speak the language, have no admin support, and have 60 days to figure out what to do.
@eco_amandine I think the ones that have found a receptive country have gone or are in the (long, slow) process of leaving. the most problematic cases are the ones looking for asylum in a third country, because they can't go back to where they're from.
@lzg yes I red everything that you posted and some other things in Semanario Universidad. I'm wondering about CR. They could request that status in theory but they are so isolated that the press couldn't speak to them officially. I wonder if they are informed about the procedures, for instance.
@eco_amandine Apparently from the interviews I've seen, they are informed. there's other issues (no translators, no embassies, etc). My guess is they don't want to stay in CR because they literally have zero resources here, they'd be on their own.
@eco_amandine one of the ways it's better to be in CR than in the US is that we actually comply with Intl law whenever possible (lol), so they probably have contact with UNHCR people and possibly OIM, not just the CR authorities.
@eco_amandine another detail is that as long as they're in CATEM the US is paying for their stay (and someone? should be paying for their departure flights depending on what ends up happening). if they request a temporary stay they can't work, and no one is paying anything for anything.
@lzg political refugees can work in CR. I'm not a lawyer and I recognize conditions might be better in CR than in the US, but I think your bar is kind of low, and CR could do better than this!
@eco_amandine first they have to apply for a temporary stay (no work permit, 30 days), and then apply for actual asylum. CR can do a lot better than this, but we also have thousands of people moving north (and now south, in reverse migration) with very tight resources. the US could do better and pay for actual hotels, but here we are.
@lzg US could not send people to third-party countries and CR could also not collaborate but having a fascist regime in power is making those situations. So here we are.