Immigration
Cuban couple has been stuck in Costa Rican airport for 17 days
The couple’s relatives condemned the appalling conditions in which the couple is being held at the airport facilities while they wait for them to be granted shelter
February 21, 2022 2:06pm
Updated: February 21, 2022 5:50pm
A Cuban couple has been living at Costa Rica's Juan Santamaría international airport for 17 days as they wait for the Central American country to grant them refugee status so they can enter the country, local press reported.
Relatives of the couple condemned the terrible conditions in which the Cubans are being held in the airport facilities. At the same time, the Costa Rican authorities have yet to respond to their request for refuge.
The sister of one of the Cubans who lives in Costa Rica, Yulmis Arango, told Telediario that the couple is being kept "in inhumane conditions." She said they have spent four days without bathing, and they only have access to public toilets at the airport.
"Immigration says they are not detained and I have a document that says otherwise. They say they are being held by the airline and the airline says they are not," she added.
The couple is being guarded by six police officers from a private company.
Arango said that they have allegedly been denied twice their request for refuge, and no lawyer has been allowed in to advise them.
The airline is providing you with all three meals of the day, however, at different times.
Costa Rica has become an option for Cubans who decide to migrate, whether for economic or political reasons.
In 2019, around 1,856 people from the island requested refuge in that Costa Rica. After Nicaragua and Venezuela, Cuba is the third largest group of migrants requesting refugee status in Costa Rica.
Asylum applicants in Costa Rica are given a work permit automatically three months after they submit their application, as well as a provisional ID card that allows them to move around the territory legally and to open bank accounts.
Starting on February 21, Costa Rica will be requesting transit visas for Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans making a layover in the country.
A statement from the General Directorate of Immigration and Foreigners of Costa Rica indicated that these travelers must "obligatorily present the requirements and respect the procedures established by this General Directorate" when changing planes.
