175.000 Costa Ricans
Cannot Leave the Country
What do 175.000 Costa
Ricans have in common?
Besides the love for
their country, they
cannot leave it, as that
is the number of Costa
Ricans who are
prohibited from leaving
the country for falling
behind in child support
or are accused of a
crime and waiting their
day in court.
The number was published
by the Dirección General
de Migración
(immigration service)
and represents more than
6% of the adult
population in Costa
Rica, which is estimated
at 3 million by the
Instituto Nacional de
Estadística y Censos (INEC)
- statistics and census
bureau.
According to Migración
there are also 15.000
foreigners who cannot
leave Costa Rica.
The director of
Migración, Mario Zamora,
says that on average at
least 40 people each
month are intercepted at
the border crossings at
Peñas Blancas, bordering
with Nicaragua, Paso
Canoas, bordering with
Panama and at the Juan
Santamaría international
airport in San José.
Director Zamora did not
reveal figures of any
interception at the
Daniel Oduder airport in
Liberia.
Zamora said that some
learn of their "impedimento
de salida" (impediment
from leaving the
country) at the airport
and are not allowed to
board their flight.
Many believe that the
immigration service is
not vigilant of people
leaving by the airport
as they are at the land
border crossings. At
Peñas Blancas and Paso
Canoas each person
leaving the country has
to face an immigration
officer who checks his
computer before stamping
the passport with "salida"
(exit).
At the airport, the
immigration form is
handed to the airline,
who issues a boarding
pass which allows the
passenger to board the
aircraft. However, the
airline hands over the
form to immigration
officials who check
their computers for any
"impedimentos" of all
passengers before the
flight is allowed to
take off. Any person
with a prohibition is
stopped at the gate or
commonly pulled of the
aircraft.
Migración director
Zamora admitted that
frequently they hold
back "innocent persons"
because the information
they receive from the
courts is incomplete or
incorrect.
Zamora added that the
information should have
the complete name of the
person, his or her
nationality, cedula or
passport number and date
of birth.
Notwitstanding, Zamora
confirms that some
200.000 records that
Migración has on hand
are incomplete and
commonly a person with
the misfortune to have
the same name of person
on the order list.
One of the more notable
cases of mistaken
identity was that of
Spanish businessman,
José López López, who
was detained by
immigration officials at
the Juan Santamaría
despite his protests of
mistaken identity. López
missed his flight to
Spain and was forced to
visit Matina, Limón to
clear up the error.
Zamora admitted that
there have been cases of
people losing their
flights, suffering
economic losses and
serious moral damage,
especially when
travelling with friends,
family and business
colleagues. The director
said that on average
more than 1 "innocent"
person per day goes
through the ordeal.
The immigration director
said that they are
working on the problem
and last Wednesday met
with the president of
the Supreme Court, Luis
Paulino Mora, to "find
solutions" and to
resolve the cases of
mistaken identity as
quickly as possible.
The magistrate said that
the situation is complex
as it sometimes deals
with "old" impedimentos
and a solution is not
easy. |
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