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Country analysis

Costa Rica


The social, economic, and political instability in Nicaragua has motivated the migration of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica. By the end of 2023, 225,000 Nicaraguans had requested asylum in Costa Rica, less than 10% of whom were accepted.

Costa Rica is part of the Central American migration corridor, and it shares a border with Panama, which received more than half a million migrants in 2023 alone. The subsequent increase in the number of people crossing the country will likewise increase the competition for access to economic opportunities, likely complicating the situation of Nicaraguan migrants and refugees.

In 2022, the Costa Rican Government established a new protocol for asylum applications. With this protocol, Nicaraguans can only request protection in person within 30 days of entering the country. At the same time, only 50 quotas per day are granted, delaying the asylum process and hindering people's access to basic goods and services. Nicaraguan migrants require shelter, drinking water, medical care, and sanitation kits as they wait to be attended to by the authorities.

Overall priorities revolve around the lack of effective access to documentation, health services, education, and work.

(VOA 23/12/2023, IOM 15/01/2024, [M&R accessed 18/12/2022)(https://migrants-refugees.va/it/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/2022-CP-Nicaragua.pdf), El País 04/02/2023, LP 07/02/2023, El Diálogo 22/04/2022)

The social, economic, and political instability in Nicaragua has motivated the migration of Nicaraguans to Costa Rica. By the end of 2023, 225,000 Nicaraguans had requested asylum in Costa Rica, less than 10% of whom were accepted.

Costa Rica is part of the Central American migration corridor, and it shares a border with Panama, which received more than half a million migrants in 2023 alone. The subsequent increase in the number of people crossing the country will likewise increase the competition for access to economic opportunities, likely complicating the situation of Nicaraguan migrants and refugees.

In 2022, the Costa Rican Government established a new protocol for asylum applications. With this protocol, Nicaraguans can only request protection in person within 30 days of entering the country. At the same time, only 50 quotas per day are granted, delaying the asylum process and hindering people's access to basic goods and services. Nicaraguan migrants require shelter, drinking water, medical care, and sanitation kits as they wait to be attended to by the authorities.

Overall priorities revolve around the lack of effective access to documentation, health services, education, and work.

(VOA 23/12/2023, IOM 15/01/2024, [M&R accessed 18/12/2022)(https://migrants-refugees.va/it/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/03/2022-CP-Nicaragua.pdf), El País 04/02/2023, LP 07/02/2023, El Diálogo 22/04/2022)

Latest updates on country situation

12 April 2024

36,000 new migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, 67% of whom were Venezuelan, entered Costa Rica in March 2024. This brought the number of people entering the country in 2024 to almost 115,000, up from 84,000 during the same period in 2023. The increase is a result of more migrants crossing the Darién jungle between Panama and Colombia, the main entry point for those transiting the region in search of the north of the continent. Migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in Costa Rica need access to food, drinking water, and WASH services. (IOM 12/04/2024, IOM 15/03/2024)

current crises
in Costa Rica


These crises have been identified through the INFORM Severity Index, a tool for measuring and comparing the severity of humanitarian crises globally.

Read more about the Index

CRI002 - Nicaraguan refugees

Last updated 26/08/2024


Drivers

Displacement

Crisis level

Country

Severity level

2.2 Medium

Access constraints

0.0