The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) signed, for the sixth consecutive year, an agreement for medical care for more than 4,300 Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Cuban migrants with chronic diseases and pathologies in the Central American country.
«For the sixth consecutive year, UNHCR signed a health agreement with the @CCSSdeCostaRica, which will allow more than 4,300 refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people, with medical vulnerabilities and who cannot access other forms of insurance, to receive care. medical, perform laboratory tests and access medications, among others,” the agency published in X.
Health insurance under the UNHCR-CCSS agreement is possible thanks to donor countries and private sponsors who contribute to Costa Rica and global programs with flexible funds for people with pre-existing medical conditions or in extreme economic vulnerability. The agreement in 2024 had a cost of 1.4 million dollars; However, the amount of the expansion for 2025 is still unknown.
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The Nicaraguan defender of Human Rights, Álvaro Leiva, who is exiled in Costa Rica, thanked the extension of the agreement until December 31, 2025 and affirmed that UNHCR insurance is a key piece to maintain people’s human rights. displaced from their countries due to dictatorial regimes in power.
“These are highly vulnerable migrant populations in terms of defending human rights on their pilgrimage, expelled by the disgraceful dictatorships that respectively oppress their countries of origin,” Leiva published in X.
To apply for health insurance, people must:
- Fill out the medical data form on the UNHCR website
- Give your consent to be included in the agreement
- Provide information that supports your need to be insured
To contact UNHCR in Costa Rica, you can:
- Call the toll-free line 800-REFUGIO (800 733 8446)
- Send an email to [email protected]
- Contact WhatsApp chatbot +506 4002 3796
- Contact social networks @RefugioCR
During 2024, some 8 thousand stateless people with asylum will benefit from this agreement. The increase in Nicaraguan, Venezuelan and Cuban migrants has saturated countries like Costa Rica and Panama, which become corridors for undocumented immigrants seeking to reach the United States, forced to leave their countries due to the sociopolitical crises that authoritarian regimes have imposed. .
