Epsy Campbell, Vice-President of Costa Rica and Minister of Foreign Affairs announced today that Costa Rica has opened two shelters for the assistance of Nicaraguans that are fleeing this country as a result of the violence and social-economic crisis.

One of the shelters is in the North Zone close to the Nicaraguan frontier and the other one is in the South Zone in Golfito, since according to Campbell, many people prefer being as far as possible from their native country.

The shelters together have capacity for a total 2000 people. Recently 60 Nicaraguans that had entered the country requesting refugee status and that had set up in La Merced park in San Jose, were transferred to the Golfito shelter.

Campbell explained that the country is requesting extraordinary financial and human resources to handle what could soon be a migratory crisis.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have already contributed with over $200,000.00.

“There is an increase in the number of refugee requests that could eventually turn into a crisis”, stated Campbell during the press conference.

“The political situation in Nicaragua has started generating pressure over Costa Rica, on top of the difficulties we were already facing in the transit of merchandise and the financial repercussions Costa Rican investors have had.”

The number of Visa requests in the Costa Rican Embassy in Nicaragua has increased considerably, with close to 600 – 700 visas processed daily.

The General Directorate of Migration in Costa Rica announced yesterday they have made the phone number 1311 available to process appointments for refugee applications.