Nicaragua, under the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, once again stands out in negative global statistics and this time appears as the fourth State in the world in which its population is forced to flee their homes and to request asylum in another country , as revealed by the most recent United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) report.
The political, economic and social crisis that Nicaragua is experiencing has forced at least 165,800 Nicaraguans to flee the country and request to be accepted as asylum seekers in other countries, between 2021 and 2022 alone, says UNHCR.
Neighboring Costa Rica is the first destination country for Nicaraguans fleeing the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship. The United States and Spain are the other two main refuges. The first three places to generate asylum applications are Venezuela (264,000), Afghanistan (208,500 and Cuba (194,700).
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The UNHCR report details that, on average, more than 2 out of 5 new asylum applications filed in different countries of the world were filed by nationals of Latin America and the Caribbean. Compared to 2019, the increase in new asylum applications in 2022 represents an increase of 31%.
The statistics monitored by UNHCR specify that, in that period, the number of Nicaraguans who requested asylum increased by more than 49%. Venezuela more than 186%, and the number of Cubans who left their country to seek asylum increased more than 6 times.
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UNHCR Deputy Director Giovanni Bassu told UN News that while Venezuela is a dramatic case, with approximately 5.5 million Venezuelans taking refuge abroad, there are other situations also on the continent that are driving these numbers. “In the north of Central America there is still a delicate situation, and in Nicaragua as well,” said the official.
Nicaragua is experiencing a sociopolitical crisis that has worsened since 2018, when Ortega and Murillo decided to crush the social protests that began in April of that year with blood and fire. Then the regime, to stay in power, has radicalized totalitarian measures, to the point of banishing and denationalizing opponents, confiscating civil society and attacking the Church, which has forced more Nicaraguans to flee the country.
