While World Watches Syrian Refugees, Nicaragua Rebuffs Cuban Refugees

Nicaragua has taken a hard line on Cuban refugees seeking to make their way to the United States on foot. The Central American nation turned back some 1,000 Cuban refugees this week, returning them to neighboring Costa Rica.

The Cubans had flown to Ecuador, made their way through that country, Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica before trying to enter Nicaragua. (For the record, any refugees making it through Nicaragua would still have to traverse Honduras, perhaps El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico before reaching the US).

Nicaragua accused Costa Rica of “hurling thousands of Cubans” at the country’s Southern border to “unleash[] a humanitarian crisis with serious consequences for our region.”

The increase in Cuban migrants is tied to concerns that the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act may be repealed.

-KitJ