Connect with us

Latest News

Migrants in Panama deported from US moved to Darien jungle region

The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the U.S. to receive non-Panamanian deportees.

Published

on

A group of nearly 100 migrants deported from the U.S. to Panama last week has been moved from a hotel in the capital to the Darien jungle region in the south of the country, Panama’s government said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Panama’s security ministry said of the 299 migrants deported from the U.S. in recent days, 13 had been repatriated to their countries of origin while another 175 remained in the hotel in Panama City awaiting onward journeys after agreeing to return home, Reuters reported.

The migrants have been staying at the hotel under the protection of local authorities and with the financial support of the United States through the U.N.-related International Organization for Migration and the U.N. refugee agency, according to the Panamanian government.

The migrants include people from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, according to Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who has agreed with the U.S. to receive non-Panamanian deportees.

The deportation of non-Panamanian migrants to Panama is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to ramp up deportations of migrants living in the U.S. illegally, read the report.

One of the challenges of Trump’s plan is that some migrants come from countries that refuse to accept U.S. deportation flights due to strained diplomatic relations or other reasons.

The arrangement with Panama allows the U.S. to deport these nationalities and makes it Panama’s responsibility to organize their repatriation.

The process has been criticized by human rights groups that worry migrants could be mistreated and also fear for their safety if they are ultimately returned to violent or war-torn countries of origin, such as Afghanistan, Reuters reported.

Susana Sabalza, a Panamanian migration lawyer representing one of the families transferred to the San Vicente shelter in the Darien region, said she had not been able to see her clients while they were held at the hotel in Panama City and is seeking permission to visit them at their new location.

She declined to identify their nationality, but said they were a Muslim family who “could be decapitated” if they returned home.

Sabalza said the family would be requesting asylum in Panama or “any country that will receive them other than their own.”

The security ministry statement said 97 migrants had been transferred to the shelter in the Darien region, which includes dense and lawless jungle separating Central America from South America.

In recent years, it has become a corridor for hundreds of thousands of migrants aiming to reach the United States. Eight more migrants would be moved there soon, the statement added.

Early on Wednesday, the hotel in Panama City where the migrants had been held appeared quiet, according to a Reuters witness.

On Tuesday some migrants had been seen holding hands and looking out of a window of the hotel to get the attention of reporters outside.

Migrants in the hotel were not allowed to leave, according to media reports.

A Chinese national, Zheng Lijuan, escaped from the hotel, according to Panama’s migration service, but was later caught in Costa Rica and returned to Panama.

Latest News

Medvedev: IEA posed less threat to Russia than western-backed groups

He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”

Published

on

Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) caused less harm to Russia than Western-backed civic organisations that, he claims, sought to undermine the country’s unity.

In an article published in the Russian journal Rodina, Medvedev wrote that while the IEA had long been designated as a terrorist organisation, its actions did not inflict the same level of damage on Russia as what he described as Western-supported institutions operating under the banner of academic or humanitarian work.

“Let us be honest: the Taliban (IEA) movement, long listed as a terrorist organisation, has caused modern Russia far less damage than all those pseudo-scientific institutions whose aim is to dismantle our country under the guise of aiding the oppressed,” Medvedev stated.

He added that such organisations have consistently pursued one objective: “to break apart the multiethnic people of Russia.”

Medvedev’s remarks come amid a shift in Russia’s official stance toward Afghanistan. In April, Russia’s Supreme Court suspended the ban on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, which had previously been included on the country’s list of terrorist organisations.

Continue Reading

Latest News

U.S. National Guard shooting suspect faces new charges, possible death penalty

Published

on

The Afghan national accused of shooting two U.S. National Guard members in Washington, D.C., is facing new federal charges that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty, authorities said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced that Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged with transporting a firearm and a stolen weapon in interstate commerce with intent to commit a serious crime, Fox News reported on Wednesday. One Guard member, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, was killed in the November 26 attack, while Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said moving the case from Superior Court to federal court allows for a careful review of whether the death penalty is warranted. She noted the impact on Beckstrom’s family and said Wolfe faces a lengthy recovery.

Lakanwal remains charged under D.C. law with first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill and multiple firearms offenses. An FBI affidavit states the revolver used in the shooting was stolen from a Seattle home in May 2023 and later given to Lakanwal in Washington state, where he also purchased additional ammunition.

Investigators say Lakanwal searched locations in Washington, D.C., including the White House, shortly after buying the ammunition. The shooting occurred near the White House on November 26, according to court records.

 

Continue Reading

Latest News

Omari and Iranian ambassador meet to strengthen Afghan migrant labor ties

Published

on

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © 2025 Ariana News. All rights reserved!