In the past three months the Ministry of Public Security, Border Police and Migration Police have rejected over one thousand Nicaraguan nationals that have attempted to enter Costa Rica illegally, while they have detected at least 20 cases of people smuggling.

“The Government of Costa Rica is working persistently in coordinated actions to guarantee national security in reason of the crisis in Nicaragua”, stated the Vice-president and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Epsy Campbell; “the actions we are taking when it comes to migration matters are directly related with cross reference of information to ensure that people with a criminal record are not entering the country”.

With this goal, the Ministry of Public Security and Migration Police maintain constant monitoring of the north border to avoid the entry to the country of people with an irregular condition.

“In the past three months we have rejected over one thousand people of Nicaraguan origin, and have intervened in more than 20 cases of people smuggling”.

“The international cooperation is the tool we are looking into as the only possibility the country has to be able to respond to this particular situation that Nicaragua is facing. What we want is that this migratory pressure does not affect the quality of life of Costa Ricans”, commented Campbell.

Authorities are verifying fingerprints and cross checking with Interpol and other international organizations the information of all immigrants entering the country.

In the past weeks the General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica confirmed that over 80% of the people requesting asylum in the country are Nicaraguans that live in Costa Rica and that see this as a “quick” option to stay in the country legally.

“The percentage of approved refugee status in Costa Rica reaches only 6% and the high percentage of rejections obeys to the fact that applicants fail to demonstrate that they are facing danger in their country”, concluded Campbell.