Sapped Nicaraguans Flee to Costa Rica
Rich Winkel
/** econ.saps: 227.0 **/
** Topic: IPS: Sapped Nicaraguans Flee to Costa Rica **
** Written 10:04 AM May 27, 1997 by dgap in cdp:econ.saps **
Copyright 1997 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 22-May-97 ***
Title: CENTRAL AMERICA: Survival Sole Aim of Nicaraguans in Costa Rica
By Ufran Garcia
SAN JOSE, May 22 (IPS) - More than 400,000 Nicaraguans have
squeezed into Costa Rica, a nation suffering from
''disproportionate'' immigration, in a desperate attempt to
survive until the situation in their own country improves.
''The only thing I'm hoping for here is to stay alive and allow
a little more time for the situation there (in Nicaragua) to get
back under control,'' Juan Antonio Quiros, a young man who crossed
the border seven years ago in order to eat, told IPS.
At 32 years-old ''and fortunately still unmarried,'' Juan
Antonio said that now he has waited so long for the desired return
to his homeland, he now doubts he would really be capable of
packing his bags and going if the chance came.
''It's that my parents got tired of waiting for me in Nicaragua
and came here too, so I've not got much family there,'' he added.
Juan Antonio works part-time as a cobbler and has another job on a
polishing machine in a factory in San Jose.
Marielos Morales, an immigrant mother living apart from her
four children aged less than 12 years old, does not know if she
will be able to return to Nicaragua, and truthfully has little
time to think about it, as her only aim is to earn money to send
back to her children.
Two years ago she left Chinandega, in the north of her country
fleeing from the desperate poverty there, she was forced to
venture into the nearby but unknown country for the sake of her
childrens' health.
''I work as a kitchen helper in a restaurant and, although I
only earn a little, I thank God for giving me the health to battle
on and let my children know their mother is with them, even though
she is far away,'' said the long-suffering woman.
Marielos sends 100 of the 150 dollars she earns each month back
to her family, using the remaining 50 for her own needs ''and even
sometimes saving a little, because the worse off you are the more
miracles you can do.''
Both Marielos and Juan Antonio were interviewed by IPS while
standing in a long line of Nicaraguans waiting for Costa Rican
work permits, having waited since before sun up.
The avalanche of undocumented immigrants filing before the
Costa Rican government offices occurred after the presidents of
Nicaragua, Arnoldo Aleman, and Costa Rica, Jose Maria Figueres,
met up in the Nicaraguan city of Granada to study the problem of
mass immigration.
Figueres promised to give the undocumented people until October
this year to regularise their employment situation, by obtaining a
work permit.
However, the required signed contract where the employer
guarantees the respect for the worker's rights, plus the sum of 20
dollars, work against the hopes of thousands of Nicaraguans.
''If you manage to convince the boss he should give you a
contract it then takes you enormous efforts to get hold of 20
dollars,'' said Fredy Gonzalez, a professional driver.
Costa Rica's Public Security Minister Laura Chinchilla, warned
the deportations would be resumed from October, as the Costa Rican
government ''needs to impose order on the disproportionate
immigration.''
However, she admitted ''all the measures aiming to end the
drama of the Nicaraguan immigrants will be insufficient if the
economies of both countries do not fulfil the needs of their
workers.''
Chinchilla also said the Nicaraguans do the jobs the Costa
Ricans refuse, above all in the agricultural and construction
sectors.
Nicaragua is facing a serious economic crisis which increased
open unemployment to more than 50 percent several years ago, while
its exports generate only some 750 million dollars per year.
Former President Violeta Chamorro (1990-97) managed to get the
bulk of the enormous foreign debt - which reached 11 billion
dollars by the early nineties - cancelled, while Aleman is
concentrating on attracting investments to generate employment.
''We all hope Nicaragua will once again give us the opportunity
to earn a living there. I am still hoping to become a lawyer,''
said Walter Amador, a 23 year-old from Rivas, near the frontier of
the two countries.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica, although not in a critical economic
situation, resents the presence of the Nicaraguans, who, although
somewhat timidly, seek basic services like health and education.
This country, of little over three million people, has a
foreign debt of slightly over three billion dollars, the
unemployment index is around five percent and annual exports are
worth more than four billion dollars. (END/IPS/tra-so/ug/sm/97)
Origin: Montevideo/CENTRAL AMERICA/
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