US cooperates with Spain to curb migrant treks

Angel Rojas and his family were forced to leave Nicaragua for Costa Rica amid threats from Daniel Ortega's government. They were among the first 280 asylum seekers resettled in the country under an agreement between Spain, Canada and the United States to ease migrant pressure on the Mexican border.

Angel Rojas now lives in Spain: “They didn't offer us any country, they told us there was a plan to leave Costa Rica with a job option, but they didn't tell us what it was. The country that chose us.”

The Spanish government has pledged to accept hundreds of families from Haiti, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba who want to leave their host country before making the perilous journey to the United States.

Angel Rojas: “The situation in Costa Rica is becoming more difficult every day, because more people are coming to the country, it is more difficult to find a job, and it is becoming more difficult.”

Safe forms of movement

The US initiative, in which Spain participates, aims to create a safer movement for orderly migration.

Euronews reporter Jaime Velázquez commented: “The situation is not very different on this side of the Atlantic. At least 3,000 people have died at sea trying to reach Europe's southern border. There are no safe transport routes for them.”

More than 273,000 people entered the EU irregularly in 2023. NGOs warn that the new European migration deal will make it more difficult to get asylum.

Daniel Duke was in charge with the settlers in Castilla y León, Spain. He said: “There is more investment in borders than in protecting the rights of these people who want to ask for international protection, or the rights of people who want to enter Europe, including improving their living conditions. We are forcing them. Europe is risking their lives to exercise this right.”

Meanwhile, a new caravan of 8,000 migrants heads through Mexico toward the U.S. border. The exodus can only be stopped by improving living conditions in their countries of origin.