27 Cubans arrive on Honduras coast thinking they reached Costa Rica

January 11^th, 2016 (ICR News) A group of 27 Cuban migrants came to shore in Honduras on Sunday after being adrift at sea for several days and thought they had reached Costa Rica, where thousands of their fellow countrymen are currently awaiting their chance to continue a journey through Central America in order to reach the United States.

The migrants were apparently left adrift after encountering strong weather during their voyage, but believed that they had arrived at their intended destination, Costa Rica, local media in Honduras reported.

The Cubans came to shore in the Caribbean coastal community of Punta Sal, and were surprised to find that they were not in Costa Rica territory, Honduras’ La Prensa reported.

Authorities in Honduras said that the migrants were transferred to a facility in the city of Tela, while the country begins deportation procedures to send the migrants back to Cuba.

Some 8,000 Cubans have been stranded in Costa Rica since November when Nicaragua refused to allow the migrants to traverse its territory, but an accord between Central American nations on December 28^th resulted in an agreement to fly the migrants from Costa Rica to El Salvador and Honduras, from where they will continue their journey through Mexico to the United States border.

The first group of about 180 Cubans will be flown out of Costa Rica on Tuesday and are expected to begin crossing the border into the United States as early as Wednesday, where they will claim the automatic privileges extended to Cuban nationals to remain in the US under the Cuban Adjustment Act.