Costa Rica expects asylum claims to quadruple as refugees head south

Tens of thousands of Central Americans from the “Northern Triangle” countries of El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala have fled their homes in recent years to escape violent criminal gangs who regularly target civilians for murder, rape and extortion.

While most of this migrant flow still heads north toward the United States, some refugees have found homes elsewhere on the Central American isthmus.

While Belize and Panama have also seen spikes in migration, Costa Rica, one of the most politically and economically stable countries in the region, has become an attractive alternative for Central American refugees.

Asylum claims in Costa Rica are set to quadruple this year from 2014 as stricter controls in Mexico and the US force Central Americans fleeing violence and political instability to find new migration routes.

[The Guardian]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.