(Reuters) - Costa Rica granted 85 migrants, who were deported in February by the Trump administration, a special status that will allow them to freely move within the country, the country's immigration director, Omar Badilla, said on Wednesday.
President Rodrigo Chaves' government agreed with the Trump administration at the start of the year that it would receive up to 200 people originating from Africa, Asia, and Europe with a goal to repatriate them within weeks.
However, two months later Costa Rican authorities confirmed that not all of the migrants had accepted repatriation, to which the government responded by issuing a resolution on Monday with a special migratory category valid for 90 days, with an option to extend.
"These people have freedom of movement anywhere within the country ... the point of this resolution is to not force anybody to return to their country of origin," said Badilla in a video shared with the press.
Since February, when they were set up in a shelter near the Panamanian border, the migrants have been restricted from leaving and were not given access to passports. Most accepted repatriation, Reuters confirmed with immigration authorities.
Still, 85 migrants of 14 different nationalities, and including 31 minors, remain on Costa Rican soil. All of them may now recover their passports, Badilla said.
The new resolution defends the rights of migrants to "feel comfortable in Costa Rica," according to Badilla.
The move comes after a group of human rights lawyers sued Costa Rica for allegedly violating the rights of dozens of minors by detaining them in camps for two months following their deportations from the United States.
Costa Rican authorities deny having violated the rights of foreigners and say they are only trying to help the United States.
(Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Editing by Sandra Maler)
