The recent detainment of a charter flight heading to Nicaragua in France has brought renewed focus on the country’s reputation as a launching point for migrants from various parts of the world who are attempting to reach the United States.
On December 21, a flight departed the United Arab Emirates carrying 303 Indian passengers. However, during a refueling stop, the flight was halted due to an anonymous report of human trafficking.
The travelers were not being forced to travel, but instead trying to relocate.
Nicaragua is the closest country connected by land to the United States that does not impose strict entry requirements upon citizens of many nations who are barred from flying to other destinations without a visa.
While some countries have imposed visa requirements upon certain nationalities under pressure from Washington, experts say that the Nicaraguan president, Daniel Ortega, has taken a contrarian approach in an attempt to weaponize migration and force negotiations over sanctions imposed on members of his inner circle.
Ana María Méndez, the director for Central America at the Washington Office on Latin America, stated that Ortega is cleverly exploiting the United States’ vulnerabilities by capitalizing on the ongoing migrant crisis. This situation poses a political risk for President Biden as he prepares for the 2024 election. Méndez compared it to pouring alcohol on an already painful wound.
In 2014, during another migrant crisis, Nicaragua enforced visa regulations for Cuban nationals in an effort to reduce the number of migrants traveling to the US border. However, the relationship between the two nations has since worsened due to Ortega’s manipulation of the 2021 election and numerous violations of human rights.
After political turmoil in Cuba in the summer of 2021, Ortega removed the need for visas for Cuban citizens. As a way for the Cuban government to avoid protests, charter flights from the island were initiated as a form of “escape valve,” according to Méndez.
Over time, individuals from different countries, including Haiti, also began to do the same thing in order to make their trip to the United States shorter and avoid the dangerous Darién Gap path along Panama’s southern border.
Because of the strained relationship with Ortega, the Biden administration has made efforts to find alternative methods to stop charter flights carrying migrants from arriving from farther distances without involving the Nicaraguan government.
In October 30th, the Haitian government implemented a restriction on charter flights heading to Nicaragua. These flights had previously transported around 30,000 individuals in the past three months. This caused a significant decrease in the number of Haitians traveling north through Honduras in November.
On November 21st, the state department revealed a fresh policy on visa restrictions that specifically targets individuals who are owners, executives, or senior officials of companies that offer charter flights to Nicaragua primarily for irregular migrants going to the United States.
Several charter companies stopped flights, but some were apparently undeterred. That included Legend Airlines, based in Romania, which earlier this month sent the first direct flight from Europe to Nicaragua in years and was responsible for the plane detained in France.
The plane departing from France was eventually redirected to India, with the exception of two passengers who were detained for additional questioning and 25 others who opted to seek asylum rather than go back to their country of origin.
An Indian police official has stated that India is conducting its own inquiry into the flight, which allegedly charged passengers between $48,000 and $150,000 for boarding. In 2023, approximately 100,000 Indian citizens have arrived at the US-Mexico border, a significant increase from the 2019 figure of 10 times less.
At present, there are ongoing flights coming from Cuba to Managua through an airline owned by the Venezuelan government. This airline appears to be unaffected by sanctions, but is also currently in talks with the White House as relations were previously cut off during the presidency of Donald Trump.
Travel agencies on social media are promoting flights on a Venezuelan airline going from Havana to Managua for a cost of approximately $1,500. They also offer all-inclusive bundles starting at $4,000 that cover transportation to Mexico, meals, accommodations, and even help with using the US Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app. This app is utilized by migrants to schedule appointments for seeking asylum, among other functions.
Méndez referred to the airlines and travel agencies involved as “new coyotes,” a term commonly used for illegal human traffickers.
Source: theguardian.com
