Introduction
Panama hosted 11,500 refugees and asylum seekers, 10,800 from Colombia, and the rest from El Salvador, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Rural indigenous groups and Afro-Colombians comprised a significant percentage of those fleeing the Colombian conflict. There were around 1,900 recognized refugees, over 500 asylum seekers, and nearly 400 asylum applicants.
2008 Summary
There is no effective monitoring for refoulement at Panama’s immigration points, especially the international airport and remote border posts, and it reportedly denied entry to some Colombian asylum seekers and forced African asylum seekers back to Colombia. Panama regularly detained asylum seekers, especially those from African countries.
In March, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) reported that the Panamanian government and media continue to portray Colombian refugees as prostitutes and drug traffickers, worsening prejudice that made it difficult for them to find work.
At the end of March the National Assembly passed Bill 298 on the regularization of long-standing refugees in Panama. The Bill will create a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship for refugees from El Salvador and Nicaragua who fled their countries in the 1980s.
Throughout 2008, Panama collaborated with various institutions to developed programs, projects and events to increase the awareness of its refugees and immigrants. In April, two Panamanian schools participated in a child art program organized by JRS of Latin America and the Caribbean to teach about the experiences and challenges of regional refugees.
In August and September, the Institute for National Studies of the University of Panama and the UNHCR created a certificate program on International Human Rights of Refugees (exact translation pending, awaiting response from source).
In August, the United Nations Environmental Programme began working with UNHCR to improve water supplies and reduce runoff from farmland in refugee communities.
In November, JRS-Panama radio broadcast the second transmission of its new monthly radio program, Solidarity without Borders. The show planned to highlight refugee contributions to Panamanian society, report human rights abuses, and offer information on the rights of refugees.
At the end of 2008, nineteen persons from Somalia, Eritrea, and Ethiopia along with two additional groups of African nationals were in need of international protection within the country. The cases remain pending.
In 2008, the National Office for the Protection of Refugees (ONPAR) held two sessions to review cases of 200 to 300 refugee applicants and granted only 36 persons refugee status.
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Law and Policy
Refoulement/Physical Protection
Panamanian law (Decree 23/1998) provides for granting of asylum or refugee status in conformity with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The Ministry of Governance and Justice implements the refugee status determination procedure through its secretariat, ONPAR. ONPAR officials can summarily reject any asylum claims they find manifestly unfounded or abusive, and eliminate 90 percent of asylum applicants at this stage. ONPAR officials often give rejected applicants merely verbal information about denials or have them sign the decision and sometimes tell them no appeal is possible. Rejected applicants have only an accelerated appeal to the same staff who heard the initial request, instead of the administrative review required by Panama’s General Administrative Code.
If ONPAR permits a case to proceed, the Commission votes on official recognition of an applicant’s claim. Rejected applicants can appeal the Commission’s ruling, first to the same body, then to the Minister of Governance and Justice, and finally to the courts but no case have ever used the last two options.
Panama also grants THP under a 1998 decree to all persons who enter Panama fleeing persecution by non-state actors, such as paramilitaries and guerillas. THP lasts only two months, but authorities generally do not enforce the time limit.
Asylum seekers of illegal or irregular entry are also protected from non-refoulement through the law. In practice, authorities deny asylum seekers entry at the border with no chance of appeal.
In November, the Government ratified a legal mechanism Law 25/2008 to enable those refugees and persons with political asylum status for the past 10 years to obtain permanent residency.
Law Decree 3/2008 on the National Migration Service recognises refugees, persons granted political asylum, stateless persons and those under THP regime as part of a separate migratory category of “Persons under the Protection of the Republic of Panama.” Persons under this category are granted temporary residency status. Executive Decree 320/2008, which regulates Law Decree 3/2008, incorporates protection safeguards for asylum seekers such as non-refoulement, no sanction for illegal/irregular entry, and no denial of access at the border.
Detention/Access to Courts
Asylum applicants normally have to wait two months to receive documentation showing they have filed for asylum. Refugees receive a one-year, renewable identity card.
Those under THP receive their card from ONPAR rather than the Migration Department, as they do not have migratory status.
Freedom of Movement and Residence
Individuals with THP status can leave their assigned areas only with permission from the Migration Department. The assigned areas are frequently remote villages that lack basic health and educational services.
Refugees and asylum seekers can leave the country temporarily only with ONPAR’s permission. Displaced Colombians are not permitted to leave the villages to which they are assigned.
UNHCR provides ONPAR travel documents for refugees and asylum seekers. Neighboring countries do not recognize these as official travel documents.
Although refugees and asylum seekers do not live in camps, Colombian refugees and indigenous asylum seekers under the Temporary Humanitarian Protection Regime are confined to their reception communities and experience limited freedom of movement.
Those settled in urban centers who have proper identification documents are free to move around. The documents issued by UNHCR appear informal and refugees and asylum seekers experience police harassment.
Those settled in rural areas cannot leave for business, medical or education purposes without special permission granted only by ONPAR.
Right to Earn a Livelihood
Asylum seekers and those with THP status do not have the right to work, but many work informally. Recognized refugees can apply for one-year, renewable work permits. The application process is complex and lengthy, typically taking 9 to 11 months.
The law grants refugees the right to acquire property and open bank accounts, but refugees have difficulties opening bank accounts because most credit institutions do not recognize refugee identity cards.
Public Relief and Education
Recognized refugees and asylum seekers have the same rights as nationals to public relief. However, the long wait for government issued identity documents often restricts access of refugees and asylum-seekers to public serviced like healthcare and education. In urban areas, refugees receive UNHCR aid through the Panamanian Red Cross. UNHCR and UNICEF agreed to provide clean drinking water to the border community of Vista Allegre, following Panama’s recognition of 47 Wounaan indigenous persons as refugees in late 2006. Refugees and asylum seekers have the right to public education. Colombian refugee children, as well as local indigenous Kuna children, attend the only secondary school in Puerto Obaldia, set up to benefit the local community.
Refugees in Vista Allegre work in a UNHCR-established cooperative for woven handicrafts. In Puerto Obaldia, refugees receive UNHCR micro-loans to set up small businesses.
Panama’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Plans for international donors does not include refugees and asylum seekers.
