Returning Nicaraguans Keep Costa Rican Authorities Busy
The movement of people at the northern border with Nicaragua at Peñas Blancas has been brisk all week as tens of thousands of Nicaraguans return to Costa Rica to work and to their temporary homes, after visiting family and relatives in their home country.

Costa Rican immigration authorities have been kept busy during a season that began with the exodus of Nicaraguans to Nicaragua on December 19.

Along with the many thousands of travellers are the illegals who enter Costa Rica, some for the first time, many others are regular routine.

Last week alone Costa Rican immigration officials rejected 523 Nicaraguans, adding to the 5.683 rejected in 2006, 3.034 more than in 2005.

Immigration officials have found entire Nicaraguan families travelling together attempting to enter Costa Rica illegally by way of mountains, farms and other crossing points along the border between the two countries.

According to authorities of the Ministerio de Seguridad Pública the increase in the number of Nicaraguans rejected is due to an intensified police action along the border, as many Nicaraguans have taken advantage of the lax border controls and mocking Costa Rican officials, crossing with impunity.

Taking part in the increased police action are members of the Fuerza Pública (regular police force), the Policía de Migración (immigration police) and the Unidad de Intervención Policial (UIP), a specialized police force, who have been patrolling the entire northern border on the look out for illegal crossings.

According to immigration officials, in the first week of the new year, 12.275 Nicaraguans crossed the border control point at Peñas Blancas legally.

Many of the illegal crossings are done with the help of "coyotes" - persons who for a fee help illegals cross the border and evade Costa Rican officials, crossing Lago Nicaragua and the San Juan river that runs across the border of the two countries.

Many Nicaraguans who enter Costa Rica illegally are doing so for the first time, according to Costa Rican authorities, looking for work and better earnings on this side of the border, while many have been crossing back and forth for some time.

Many of the illegals do so because they cannot afford the cost of obtaining a passport and a visa to Costa Rica in their country or do not want to wait the time it takes to obtain the documentation, losing the opportunity to cross with other family members who assure them of finding work in Costa Rica.