Nicaragua: Nicaraguans Fleeing From Daniel Ortega Administration Posts Challenge for Costa Rica's Asylum System

In Nicaragua, the administration under dictator President Daniel Ortega has a huge crackdown on dissent, the opposition, the Church, and independent media. This has forced many of its citizens to flee to nearby countries, including Costa Rica.

However, this wave of Nicaraguan migrants, many of whom are seeking political asylum, has so far overwhelmed Costa Rica's asylum system, with the wait time to formalize asylum cases being as long as nine years. Many of these asylum seekers are fleeing due to political repression and are being forced into exile.

Nicaragua's political crisis exploded in 2018 when the Ortega government started repressing protesters and opposition officials, as well as the Roman Catholic Church. Currently, no opposition official is holding any post in the government under Ortega, with many critics and opposition leaders either imprisoned or forced to exile, many of whom flee to Costa Rica.

According to a report by the Associated Press, this latest exodus fueled by Ortega's harsh political policies has overwhelmed its neighbor's already-teetering asylum system. The number of asylum requests has exploded, with asylum seekers now accounting for 4% of Costa Rica's population of 5 million citizens.

While the United States, Germany, and Mexico are also receiving large numbers of Nicaraguans, most chose to escape to Costa Rica. The country's officials have confirmed that they now have over 200,000 pending applications and another 50,000 people waiting for their appointment to make a formal application. Nine out of 10 applicants are Nicaraguan.

The AP notes that this adds pressure to the new Rodrigo Chaves administration as it tries to jumpstart the struggling economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. One official told the AP that this "incredible increase" has put the administration's capacities to the test.

Costa Rica Plans to Regularize Over 200,000 Migrants, Mostly Nicaraguans

As Nicaraguans leave their home country for safety concerns, Costa Rica is now readying a plan to regularize 200,000 migrants, the majority of whom are Nicaraguans fleeing Ortega's crackdowns.

Costa Rica Immigration Head Marlen Luna recently spoke to Reuters, stating that the government is still studying how to implement this plan. She also stated that it will need a final nod from President Rodrigo Chaves.

This is a response to their inability to handle this high number of asylum requests, as it would take around nine years to process some of these requests. The asylum crisis has forced Costa Rica, long considered one of Central America's most affluent and stable countries, to call for support from the international community.

Journalists Fleeing Nicaragua En Masse

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Daniel Ortega administration has pushed laws banning "fake news", and the media is not allowed to publish information not authorized by the Nicaraguan government. The crackdown on free press even constrained newspapers as the Ortega government banned them from importing paper and ink.

Raids on media outlets are also common, with many journalists being forced to flee as police question them and accuse them of working for CIA fronts.

One such journalist is Octavio Enriquez, who was forced to kiss his family goodbye, fleeing to Honduras after his online news magazine, Confidencial, had its offices raided by police. The LA Times reported he hiked for hours in the dark to reach safety in Honduras. He is one of the 200,000 Nicaraguans who have fled the country. Of that number, at least 140 are journalists like Enriquez.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica - CGTN America