Aid to Nicaraguans Refugees in Costa Rica Now at Risk
HAVANA TIMES – Humanitarian assistance to some 200,000 Nicaraguans who have come to Costa Rica seeking protection, shelter, or asylum is now up in the air due to a 41% cutback in funding, warned the UN Agency for Refugees on May 9th.
Sri Lankan attorney Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, Acnur’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, affirmed: “a strong reduction in financing has already forced the suspension or drastic cutback of many essential services.”
“Critical aid is no longer getting to those who need it most, especially in the more remote communities. The future of these aid programs is hanging by a thread,” Menikdiwela stated at a Geneva press conference.
She recalled that the incessant political and social tensions in Nicaragua have forced people across the border, and thousands of them have sought safety in Costa Rica. This country, in turn, “has maintained a solid tradition of asylum, providing security and dignity to those who flee persecution.”
United Nations agencies, together with the Inter-American system and international human rights organizations, have denounced the climate of political and social repression that reigns in Nicaragua, a situation that greatly intensified following the protests that erupted in 2018 against the rule of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo.
As of March 2025, Costa Rica had over 194,000 pending asylum requests from Nicaraguans, plus 9,216 recognized refugees from there in the country, representing over half of all the displaced Nicaraguans in the world.
The Nicaraguan refugees and asylum seekers now represent nearly 4% of Costa Rica’s 5.1 million inhabitants and comprise 83% of all refugees and asylum seekers in the country.
The humanitarian aid, which included crucial economic assistance, has allowed thousands of Nicaraguans in Costa Rica to access legal assistance, file the necessary asylum documents, and follow other legal pathways, according to Acnur.
They have also provided vital services such as early childhood protection, mental health services, education, and vocational and job placement services, with special attention on the women, children and those who live in high risk or remote areas.
For their part, the Nicaraguans are making important contributions to the generous communities that have taken them in.
Nonetheless, this asylum system is “under pressure,” stressed Menikdiwela. The agency’s capacity to register the most recently arrived asylum seekers has been reduced by 77%, which delays access to the documentation needed to guarantee employment, health care and education.
With over 222,000 pending requests for asylum, including those of other nationalities, “these cuts threaten the entire system of protection.”
Menikdiwela recognized that Costa Rica “has contributed enormously to confronting the forced displacement, with a continuing commitment to offer the refugees opportunities to rebuild their lives under safe conditions.”
The country has reinforced its asylum system and promoted inclusion. However, without sufficient resources, the ability to help people settle, integrate, and prosper is at serious risk, Acnur insisted.
“The governments, private donors and individuals have a role to play in guaranteeing that protection doesn’t fail, whenever and wherever it’s needed most,” Menikdiwela declared.
Acnur “needs 40.4 million dollars to continue its critical labor in the country this year,” concluded the spokesperson charged with presenting this call for international aid to help with those displaced from Nicaragua.
First published in Spanish by IPS and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.