NEW DELHI: Indian authorities have started the process of verifying the nationality of around 50 people presumed to be Indians who were part of a group of 299 migrants deported by the US to Panama in recent days, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The group of Indians are “safe and secure” at a hotel in Panama City, the Indian embassy said in a post on X. The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that once the nationality of the people is verified, they will be issued emergency certificates so that they can return to India.
Panama and Costa Rica are among the Central American countries that are collaborating with the US to repatriate deported migrants. The US is sending undocumented migrants from several Asian countries, who have refused to return home or whose governments have refused to accept them, to the Central American nations.
“Panamanian authorities have informed us that a group of Indians have reached Panama from US,” the Indian embassy in Panama said on X. “They are safe and secure at a hotel with all essential facilities. Embassy team has obtained consular access. We are working closely with the host Government to ensure their wellbeing.”
All the people who are presumed to be Indians are currently at Decapolis Hotel Panama, a four-star hotel that has become a “temporary custody” centre for undocumented migrants deported from the US. The people cited above said Indians were not among the group of 97 migrants moved from the hotel to a camp in the Darien jungle region in southern Panama.
“The people who are presumed to be Indians are all safe and not in any distress. Once their nationality is verified, the US will make arrangements for their repatriation,” one of the people said.
Panama’s security ministry said in a statement that of the 299 migrants deported by the US, 13 had already been repatriated to their countries of origin and another 175 were in the hotel in Panama City awaiting onward journeys after agreeing to return home.
Panama’s public security minister Frank Ábrego said on Tuesday that migrants who didn’t want to return to their country of origin would have to choose a third country. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will be responsible for their repatriation, he said.
Armed personnel from Panama’s National Aeronaval Service have been deployed at Decapolis Hotel and Ábrego has said the migrants aren’t allowed to leave the hotel. Photos posted on social media and shared by news wires showed deportees waving from windows or holding up signs that said “Help us”.
The Panamanian government said migrants are staying at the hotel under the protection of local authorities and with the financial support of the US through the IOM and the UN refugee agency.
Those deported to Panama include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to President Jose Raul Mulino, who agreed to receive non-Panamanian deportees from the US.
The deportation of people to Central American countries marks an escalation of the Trump administration’s efforts to remove undocumented migrants from the US. The process has been criticised by human rights groups, which have said the migrants could be mistreated.
Costa Rica announced this week it would receive 200 people from India and Central Asia deported from the US. The people cited above said there was no update on the situation in Costa Rica.
The US has so far deported a total of 332 Indians on three military flights since February 5. After the first flight brought back 104 people, officials said the US was in the process of removing close to 600 more illegal migrants to India.
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