The Center for Transdisciplinary Studies of Central America (Cetcam) pointed out that forced displacement has become the most frequent form of migration in Nicaragua, due to “state violence and deepening of the sociopolitical crisis” in the country.
In his most recent reportCentral American Views“, the entity highlighted, assured that “oppression and uncertainty about the future have increased the flow of migration and exile that has opened in Nicaragua since 2018. As in other countries in the region, this migration is of a multicausal nature and does not seem that will have recess in the short term as long as these conditions are maintained.
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“The constant Nicaraguan migratory flow has become part of the national reality and deep processes of family disintegration are already evident and a severe impact on the life of the communities within the country and of the migrants due to the emotional burden that it represents. », he stressed.
Likewise, he indicated that the increase in the numbers of Nicaraguans who have been forced to leave the country, “show the need for protection and security of citizens forced into exile.”
“Thousands of Nicaraguans persecuted, threatened, victims of government repression seek to protect their lives outside the country, starting an exodus to different destinations. Costa Rica has been the main destination to seek refuge », he added.
The risk of migrating
Cetcam pointed out that on their journey, Nicaraguan migrants “face very harsh conditions because the majority travel in irregular conditions (…) and in transit countries they are frequently victims of criminal groups that extort, kidnap, rob and in many cases cases, they are abandoned to their fate, and they are also victims of government anti-immigrant policies that, far from protecting them, repel them with violence».
“While in destination countries they often find themselves with precarious living conditions, difficulties in regularizing their immigration status, low-quality jobs that require up to two or three days of work, discrimination, xenophobia, and enormous pressure to send remittances to their families,” he stressed.
In addition, the agency lamented that in Nicaragua “valuable and qualified human resources are constantly lost, which then no longer return, giving rise to a perverse cycle in which the conditions of underdevelopment are reproduced.”
«For Adrián Meza Sosa, specialist in labor law and rector of the Paulo Freire University, one of the most important negative effects of migration and exile is the loss of qualified human resources, a repetitive reality in Nicaragua that has historically been characterized by having an unstable political model, which does not guarantee many educational and economic job opportunities for its population,” the document reads.
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“The massive exile that Nicaragua has experienced since 2018 has allowed practically an entire generation of academics, professionals, and intellectuals from different areas to be lost, people who, if they manage to settle in a destination country, have the possibility of not returning. , because they are going to find the opportunities that the Nicaraguan government took from them with repressive acts,” he added.
Likewise, Cetcam assured that migrants and forcibly displaced persons have to face the challenge of adapting to a new culture and new networks of relationships.
The Nicaraguan exodus
The agency also detailed that the increase in migration and exile flows in Nicaragua “have increased in such a way that different studies have been carried out to estimate the number of people who have left the country; however, the data is uneven and there is an underreporting that does not end up growing as long as the flow continues».
“A rough estimate amounts to 190,000 Nicaraguans who emigrated during the crisis period; that is, between 2018 and 2021”, revealed Cetcam.
In addition, he stressed that Nicaragua “has become proportionally one of the countries with the largest number of migrants at the Central American level, in addition that there is a significant variation because the main destination country that was previously Costa Rica, is now changing to the United States” .
