Panama is both a transit country and a country of asylum. Currently there are nearly 15,000 recognized refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly Colombians, Cubans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, and Venezuelans. Since 1990, some 2,589 people have been recognized as refugees, of whom only 32 were recognized during 2020.
The declaration of the health emergency in 2020 imposed restrictive measures which, in addition to the dire health situation in general, impacted the population of concern to UNHCR. With the closure of regional borders, the number of asylum claims received by the National Office for the Attention of Refugees (ONPAR) in 2020 decreased drastically. Staff hired by UNHCR at the beginning of the year were thus able to focus on reducing the existing backlog by 30% in eight months. On the other hand, mobility restrictions affected income generation activities of refugees, asylum-seekers and others of concern to UNHCR, to the extent that many refugees in an economically stable situation were forced to depend on humanitarian assistance.
Registering a 40% increase in requests for humanitarian assistance, UNHCR enhanced programmes through more flexible requirements and increased the size of cash grants (based on vulnerability in terms of ability to pay for food, medicines or rent), and the use of electronic food vouchers and pre-paid cards.
UNHCR strengthened legal assistance services in response to non-admission decisions, as well as in cases of disputes over delayed rent payments and evictions. The Office further strengthened communication with communities through the update of the HELP page, which received up to 50,000 visits in a month; the establishment of a WhatsApp line; an email account; and an emotional containment line to provide psychosocial assistance. Partners further adopted other mechanisms to keep in contact and provide information such as social media and paying for data (specially to provide access to the education system).
Although many of the economic integration activities had to be suspended, virtual workshops were carried out, and local integration activities were conducted virtually, with courses about Panamanian culture and sports activities. UNHCR donated 750 tablets to children and adolescents to allow their access to virtual education platforms.
Because of the closure of the borders at a regional level, the ‘Controlled Flow’ agreement with Costa Rica was suspended, and a group of 2,500 people within mixed movements composed mainly of Haitians (coming from countries such as Brazil or Chile), Cubans and a number of African nationalities (Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Ethiopia, among others), remained stranded in Panama. The majority were at Immigration Reception Stations (ERM per the acronym in Spanish) in the Darien province, often in overcrowded conditions (numbers exceeding the shelter capacity), with limited health and WASH infrastructure. UNHCR as co-lead of the Human Mobility Group helped the Panamanian government through technical and material support, as well as the improvement of one of the ERMs by donating 48 RHUs.