Syrians living in Costa Rica ask government to grant overseas families asylum

September 15^th, 2015 (ICR News) Costa Rica’s Syrian population is asking the government to accept their families fleeing their war-torn country as refugees, Amelia Rueda reports.

Talan Alhadi, a Syrian who lives in Costa Rica and works as a merchant, told the radio program Nuestra Voz that the country should help families whose loved ones’ lives are at risk.

Alhadi said the Syrian population in Costa Rica currently numbers around 80, who are dedicated to working towards a better future in their adopted home.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Manuel Gonzalez said the country would not close its doors to anyone, but Syrians seeking asylum in Costa Rica would be required to submit to the same application process as refugees from any other country.

The Costa Rican government has issued mixed signals this month about its willingness to take in Syrian refugees.

Earlier this month, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the country would be open to receiving Syrian refugees, and those who are granted refugee status would receive shelter, food, and assistance in finding employment.

Just days later, however, President Luis Guillermo Solis seemed to reject the idea, saying that Syrian refugees would not find in Costa Rica the sociological, religious or cultural shelter they would require to live normal lives.

“We are in a very different cultural area, and there isn’t a community of reference able to give them selter,” Solis said.

“I would rather maintain a very serious, responsible and articulated policy in handling immigrants or those asking for political asylum [rather] than playing with people who have very great needs and even greater expectations that would end up in a country that is not adequate and where they may even be condemned to discrimination,” Solis added.

More than four million Syrians have fled their war-torn country so far this year, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees, sparking a serious immigration crisis in Europe.

Several other Latin American countries have offered to take in Syrian refugees in recent weeks, including Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, and Venezuela.