Nicaraguan Exodus Begins
This Week, As 60.000
Nicaraguans Head Home
For the Holidays
During the year
thousands of Nicaraguans
make their way into
Costa Rica, some
illegally, looking for
work and a better life.
However, come December,
the flow of Nicaraguans
is in reverse, as
thousands head home to
spend the holidays with
family.
This year some 60.000
Nicaraguans are expected
to cross the land border
crossing at Peñas
Blancas, according to
Costa Rican immigration
director, Mario Zamora
and the Nicaraguan
Ambassador to Costa
Rica, Harold Rivas.
The number represents
almost four times the
number of Nicaraguans
who head home throughout
the year.
The foreigners take time
off work to visit
families, bearing gifts
and cash from savings
and the "aguinaldo"
(Christmas bonus) to
share with their loved
ones, beginning the trek
back to Costa Rica in
the first week in
January.
Most travel by bus.
Ticabus, Nica Express
and Transnica all report
few seats left on their
buses during the last
week of December and
first week in January
and that is with the
added buses and extended
operating hours of the
bus companies.
To handle the increased
load, the immigration
office at Peñas Blancas
will employ 42 officials
instead of the usual 17.
"The idea is not to just
increase the migratory
controls, but also the
physical control as some
take advantage of the
holiday traffic to cross
illegally", said Zamora,
who added that the
"coyote" gangs are much
more active during the
season.
The Nicaraguan embassy
in Costa Rica reports
that some 1.000
Nicaraguans visit the
embassy daily to get
their travel papers in
order to leave Costa
Rica, like renewing
passports, obtaining
visas for their children
born in Costa Rica and
legal advice.
Ambassador Rivas said
that the staff at the
embassy has been beefed
up to process the
requests rapidly.
Many Nicaraguans use the
holidays to see their
children who have been
left behind with family
members.
The majority of
Nicaraguan women living
and working in Costa
Rica are employed as
domestics, while the men
in construction. During
the holiday season, the
effect of the exodus of
Nicaraguans can be felt
in many homes and
visible in construction
sites as work comes to a
slow down. |
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