Amid flak over human rights violations, Panama releases detained US deportees
After weeks of lawsuits and human rights criticism, Panama on Saturday released dozens of migrants who were held for weeks in a remote camp after being deported from the United States, telling them they have 30 days to leave the Central American nation.
It thrust many like Hayatullah Omagh, a 29-year-old who fled Afghanistan in 2022 after the Taliban took control, into a legal limbo, scrambling to find a path forward.
“We are refugees. We do not have money. We cannot pay for a hotel in Panama City, we do not have relatives,” Omagh told the media in an interview. “I can’t go back to Afghanistan under any circumstances ... It is under the control of the Taliban, and they want to kill me. How can I go back?”
Authorities have said deportees will have the option of extending their stay by 60 days if they need it, but after that many like Omagh don’t know what they will do.
Omagh climbed off a bus in Panama City alongside 65 migrants from China, Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal and other nations after spending weeks detained in poor conditions by the Panamanian government, which has said it wants to work with the Trump administration “to send a signal of deterrence” to people hoping to migrate.
Human rights groups and lawyers advocating for the migrants were waiting at the bus terminal, and scrambled to find the released migrants shelter and other resources. Dozens of other people remained in the camp.
Among those getting off buses were migrants fleeing violence and repression in Pakistan and Iran, and 27-year-old Nikita Gaponov, who fled Russia due to repression for being part of the LGBTQ+ community and who said he was detained at the US border, but not allowed to make an asylum claim.
“Once I get off the bus, I’ll be sleeping on the ground tonight,” Gaponov said.
Others turned their eyes north once again, saying that even though they had already been deported, they had no other option than to continue after crossing the world to reach the US.
The deportees, largely from Asian countries, were part of a deal stuck between the Trump administration and Panama and Costa Rica as the US government attempts to speed up deportations. The administration sent hundreds of people, many families with children, to the two Central American countries as a stopover while authorities organise a way to send them back to their countries of origin.
Critics described it as a way for the US to export its deportation process.
Panamanian authorities denied accusations about camp conditions, but blocked journalists from accessing the camp and cancelled a planned press visit last week.
While international aid organisations said they would organise travel to a third country for people who didn’t want to return home, Panamanian authorities said the people released had already refused help.
Omagh said he was told in the camp he could be sent to a third country if it gives people from Afghanistan visas. He said that would be incredibly difficult because few nations open their doors to people with a Afghan passport.
He said he asked authorities in the camp multiple times if he could seek asylum in Panama, and said he was told that “we do not accept asylum.”
“None of them wants to stay in Panama. They want to go to the US,” said Carlos Ruiz-Hernandez, Panama’s deputy foreign minister, in an interview last month.
That was the case for some, like one Chinese woman who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions from Panamanian authorities.
Upon getting off the bus, the first thing she wanted to do was find a Coca-Cola. Then, she’d find a way back to the US.
“I still want to continue to go to the United States and fulfill my American dream,” she said.
