Monday 05 January
2009, San José, Costa
Rica
Predictions For 2009
Northern Border
Controls Tightened In Post-Holiday
Exodus
Living On Minimum Salary
Country
Return Home A
Smooth One
Zapote
Closes, Palmares Is On Deck
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Northern Border Controls
Tightened In
Post-Holiday Exodus
At least 1.200
Nicaraguans have been
rejected at the border
or sent back by Costa
Rican police officials
when found to be in
Costa Rican territory
without proper
documentation. One
driver alone was
surprised by authorities
when he was found to be
carrying 40 Nicaraguans
illegally into the
country.
The man, identified only
by his last name Briceño
told police that he was
carrying a group of
people from to
Filadelifia, in
Guanacaste. Of the 66
passengers police
questioned, 40 had
entered the country
illegally and placed
Briceño under arrest.
The entering of
Nicaraguans into Costa
Rica illegally is annual
ritual. This year the
ministerio de Seguridad
Pública (Public Security
ministry) has
intensified patrols in
the area north of
Liberia to the Peñas
Blancas and Los Chiles
border crossings.
Authorities believe that
one out of every five
Nicaraguans entering
Costa Rica this time of
year do so illegally,
looking for
opportunities to work as
the job market in the
northern neighbour is
tight and cost of living
increasing daily.
Many of the Nicaraguans
found entering illegally
are dumb founded as all
they want, as they tell
authorities, is a chance
at an honest day's work
and do not see crossing
without a visa or
passport as doing
anything wrong.
The post-holiday exodus
of migrants from
Nicaragua has meant that
controls at the border
crossing is tight. On
the Costa Rican side of
the border of Peñas
Blancas, a passport can
come under scrutiny
several times before it
is even presented to
Costa Rican immigration
officials a few hundred
metres from the
Nicaraguan immigration
post.
Taking part in the
immigration controls at
the border are the drug
enforcement police and
the Fuerza Pública.
Outside the immigration
post, there are a number
of police check points
on the main highway
between Peñas Blancas
and Liberia - three at
last count - and one
south of Liberia. At the
check points police
review passports for
stamps of legal entry
into Costa Rica and
inspect passenger
vehicles and commercial
trucks. |
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