It is true that hundreds of Venezuelans have left Panama (heading for Venezuela) in October 2022 after presenting only their national identity card. But it is an exceptional humanitarian measure, which has not been officially notified by the Panamanian authorities, since it violates the internal visa regulations, lawyers from the Isthmian country specialized in the migratory area explained to this portal.
Text: Alexis Correa
A legal limbo. Since August 2017, a visa has been required in Panama for Venezuelans who want to travel to that Central American country, with which, paradoxically, it shared the same political unit at some point in the 19th century. This is part of the containment measures that some countries in the region have taken in the face of one of the largest migration crises in the world in the 20th century.
But some Venezuelans in Panama are returning by air to Venezuela even though, theoretically, they never had legal entry to that country and lack the documents required to do so.
Is it true that Venezuelans can leave Panama for Venezuela with only their national identity card? EsPaja.com users consulted this concern, regarding news that was generated at the end of October 2022 and publications on social networks.
The answer must be explained: some Venezuelan migrants have returned from Panama to Venezuela by plane only with their identity card, but this is an exceptional humanitarian measure and for a limited group of them.
The Panamanian government has not notified her officially or explicitly because this violates internal visa regulations, Panamanian immigration lawyers explained to EsPaja.com.
In fact, Panama is discouraging other Venezuelans in Central America—for example, in neighboring Costa Rica—from returning to the isthmus country to take flights back to Caracas. All of this as the backlash of the new immigration measures of the United States (announced on October 12, 2022) that radically restrict the entry of Venezuelans to that country.
The United States used to be the final destination of the vast majority of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who, especially as of 2021, traveled in transit through Central America through routes as risky as the Panamanian jungle of Darién (the “Cap”).
Some questions and answers:
Can a Venezuelan take a flight from Panama to Venezuela using only an ID from their country?
Legally, no. “To leave Panama, even in humanitarian situations, you also need a visa,” Rodrigo Noriega, a Panamanian immigration lawyer, explained to EsPaja.com by text message.
And he added: “The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations establishes that diplomatic or consular missions can extend a safe conduct to their nationals, which allows them to travel when they do not have passports, or have lost them.”
Why, in October 2022, have some Venezuelans been allowed to return to their country only with the ID?
It is an exceptional measure of a humanitarian nature, but one that has not been explicitly made official by the Panamanian authorities, as this violates internal visa regulations.
The measure has been extended to Venezuelans who are in legal limbo: they entered Panama without legal papers, by land, through the Darien jungle (border with Colombia).
Generally, the Panamanian authorities receive these Venezuelans without a visa, provide them with minimal humanitarian aid and let them continue to their next destination (Costa Rica). But after the new US measures in October 2022, many migrants in transit have chosen to return to Venezuela.
To prevent them from crossing routes like the dangerous Darién jungle again (this time in the opposite direction), they are being allowed to fly back to Venezuela without a passport or visa, but these passages must be paid for by the migrants themselves.
*Also read: At least 160 Venezuelans returned from Panama
“It is a humanitarian aid that the national immigration service is giving so that they can return to their country of origin, because the United States is no longer receiving them. This aid is in conjunction with the Venezuelan consulate in Panama,” Panamanian immigration attorney Dianis Ramos explained by text message to EsPaja.com.
EsPaja.com sent a questionnaire by text message to Julio Alfaro, in charge of press relations at Migración Panamá, but did not receive a response before the publication of this article.
In its official networks, Migración Panamá has reported these return trips (for example, that of 167 Venezuelans, tweet of 10/24/2022), but in no official publication or document has it been explained how the issue of the documents was resolved: How did someone expeditiously leave who, in theory, never entered?
The issue of the identity card has only been mentioned in Venezuelan sources, for example, the account of Fabiola Zavarce (10/19/2022), representative of the so-called interim government of Venezuela in Panama:
Some travel agencies and journalists have shown a document issued by the Venezuelan Embassy in Panama (government of Nicolás Maduro) to the Maduro Foreign Ministry. The letter indicates:
“As of this date (10/18/2022), the National Immigration Service of the Republic of Panama has made the decision to allow Venezuelan citizens who have entered Panamanian territory irregularly by crossing the Darién Jungle»
EsPaja.com has not been able (to date) to authenticate the document with the Venezuelan Embassy in Panama (Maduro government). In none of the official networks or the web page of the diplomatic organizations of Venezuela in the isthmian country have public announcements been made on this subject (to date).
Are Venezuelan flights to Caracas paid for by the Panamanian government?
No. “Panama requires an authorized visa for Venezuelan citizens so that they can enter this country (…) The information they are giving (to irregular Venezuelan migrants) that they are being allowed to enter (to Panama from the north) is false. and that here the flights (for voluntary repatriation) are free. Each person is paying their ticket and we are only doing it for those who have entered the irregular flow that comes from south to north (from Darién)”, explained the director of the National Service of Migration of Panama (SNM), Samira Gozaine, in Statements collected by the Istmeño portal Crítica (10/23/2022).
Will Venezuelans who are in other Central American countries be able to go to Panama to return to Venezuela?
No visa, no. From Costa Rica, the Central American country that borders Panama, Venezuelans who lack this legal document in order will not be allowed to enter officially, according to an express announcement by Migración Panamá (Twitter, 10/24/2022), our bold:
“The border between the Republic of Panama and Costa Rica remains open for anyone who wishes to enter or leave the national territory. All foreign citizens who need to enter Panama must comply with the requirements previously established by current immigration legislation, including Venezuelan citizens”
«The Venezuelan consular representation in Panama has been coordinating, with its nationals, the realization of private voluntary assisted return flights aimed at those who have their own financial resources to cover their expenses. Massive and/or free repatriation operations are not being coordinated from Panama”
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