Public Project
Reverse migration in Latin America
The open boat carrying 30 Venezuelan adults and some children leaves the small port of the Panamanian city of Miramar in reverse gear. They are all returning home. Their hopes for a future in the United States were dashed by Donald Trump.
“According to Trump, we are all gang members,” says Franchesca Diaz, 19, who sleeps on the floor of an abandoned house until she scrapes together enough money to return home.
Panama first locked the migrants in a hotel in the capital, then sent them to a detention center on the edge of the jungle when human rights organizations filed lawsuits.
Somalis, Eritreans, Cameroonians, Iranians, Chinese, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans waiting in a large dormitory at the Fe y Alegria shelter are asking the same question: “What now?” With the help of asylum lawyers, they are trying to find the answer.
For De Volkskrant
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