Central American countries meet to resolve new Cuban migration wave

Central American countries meet to resolve new Cuban migration wave
BY NANCY SAN MARTIN
staff@InCubaToday.com

Costa Rica's foreign minister on Tuesday urged neighboring countries to
find "concrete" and "permanent" solutions to the constant flow of Cubans
and other migrants traveling through the region in an attempt to reach
the United States, the news agency EFE reported.

"We are once again faced with a valuable opportunity to continue the
dialogue, take advantage of good practices and experiences, reaffirm our
commitments and, as in the meetings that preceded this, demonstrate that
we can provide permanent concrete solutions," Manuel González Sanz told
a gathering of representatives from Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States.

Absent from the regional meeting: Nicaragua and Cuba.

"It is urgent that we seek...permanent solutions, not short-term, to
address this phenomenon that affects us all," González said.

Nearly 3,000 Cuban migrants are currently stranded in Panama. This new
group follows a recent crisis that eventually totaled more than 9,500
migrants stuck in Costa Rica and neighboring Panama, after Nicaragua
closed its borders to Cubans en route to the United States. That crisis
was finally resolved with an airlift that ended in mid-March after
flying thousands of Cubans from Costa Rica and Panama to El Salvador and
Mexico so they could resume their journey north to the U.S.-Mexico border.

On Monday, the foreign minister warned the new wave of undocumented
Cuban migrants that Costa Rica would no longer serve as a pass-thru to
the United States.

"We are countries of origin, transit and destination of migrants and as
responsible states, we are commited to take action to protect the rights
of these people," he said, adding that regional nations must redouble
their efforts to prevent migrants from becoming vicitms of organized
smuggling networks that operate in the region and put lives at risk.

"The situation is not limited to respecting their rights," he said. "We
must find a solution to the root causes of these migration flows so that
our nations are not unjustly affected."

Source: Central American countries meet to resolve new Cuban migration
wave | In Cuba Today - http://www.incubatoday.com/news/article71412382.html