Costa Rica agrees to take in Indian migrants deported by US

The Costa Rican government has said that it will accept a United States flight on Wednesday with 200 undocumented migrants from India and Central Asia who are being deported.

In a statement on Monday, the president’s office said that the first group of migrants was expected to arrive at the airport of the capital city San Jose on a commercial flight. “Costa Rica will serve as a bridge to help them reach their countries of origin,” it said.

The statement did not mention how many of those on board will be Indians.

The deportees will be housed at migrant centres till they are eventually sent to their countries of origin.

The repatriation, funded by the US, is being supervised by the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, which will oversee the migrants’ care during their stay in Costa Rica, the statement added.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of the US deporting at least 335 Indian nationals since February 5. The deportations are part of a wider crackdown by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Earlier, Panama, El Salvador and Guatemala had offered to accept deportees from the US.

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— Presidencia de la República 🇨🇷 (@presidenciacr) February 17, 2025

On January 24, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it was committed to repatriating Indian nationals residing abroad without proper documentation. This came after reports that India was…

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