At the beginning of September, a similar tragedy was experienced in Costa Rican waters to those heard and seen in the waters of the Mediterranean or Africa. Samuel Bienga Fernand, a 4-year-old Congolese boy, was one of two dead, following an accident involving two boats carrying about thirty African migrants.
Every month, national authorities stop migrant groups, who are illegally mobilized into Costa Rica, with the “assistance” of coyotes or people who charge and abuse them in illegal trafficking of people and others crimes that do not stop. This country will remain an area of passage for thousands of people looking for a better destination.
In the face of multiple violations against migrants, several organizations launched the campaign “Alzo La Voz en Acción por Nuestros Derechos” (I raise my voice for our rights). Now anyone can file a complaint through a technological application. This complaint will be referenced with a geographical location.
The initiative has the support of the Foundation Center for Social Rights of the Immigrant Person (CENDEROS). The idea is that affected populations can make complaints in real time through the virtual platform. This information may affect the actions of public institutions.
We hope that State institutions will guarantee those rights in which equal conditions prevail for access to public services, documentation, education and development opportunities, dignified jobs, attention to situations of gender-based violence, health information and sexual and reproductive health,”
said Maricela Hinkelammert from CENDEROS Foundation.
The campaign was launched last Friday in the center of the border canton of Upala. The activity highlighted situations where migrant and cross-border young people, women and migrant workers are constantly being exposed.
The virtual platform is accessed on the site alzomivoz.ushahidi.io. Each complaint will be recorded on an interactive map. At this moment there are already 30 complaints.
Since 2016, a training process for Costa Rican officials facilitated by CENDEROS and the Ipade Institute of Nicaragua, with funding from the European Union, has been carried out.
According to the last Census of 2000, about 380 thousand migrants live in Costa Rica. Until May this year, Costa Rica received 2,582 requests for shelter. Only 108 were approved in June, slightly more than 13 percent. In the first 18 days of September, the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners received 612 people along the Paso Canoas border.