Hundreds deported from us held at the Panama Hotel

In a room at the luxury hotel Decápolis in the city of Panama, two girls hold a piece of paper to a window with a written message. “Please help us,” he writes.

The hotel offers its clients rooms with sea view, has two exclusive restaurants, pool, spa and private transportation. But now it has become the center of “temporary custody” located 299 unfathomable migrants deported from the USA, the Panaman government said on Tuesday.

Some migrants raise their hands and cross them to the wrists to indicate that they have been deprived of their freedom. Others more small signs with other messages such as: “We are not sure about our country.”

Trump’s administration has committed to deport the millions of people who have passed to the United States illegally. Those at the Panama City Hotel arrived on three flights last week, after President José Raúl Mulino agreed that Panama would become a “bridge” land deported.

However, out of 299 unfathomable migrants – from India, China, Uzbekistan, Iran, Vietnam, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka – only 171 agreed to return to their country of origin.

The rest now faces an uncertain future, and the Panaman authorities control what will happen next.

According to the Government, this group will move to the camp in Darién Province, which temporarily houses migrants who have crossed the jungle along the way.

On a normal day, tourists can easily enter and leave the Decápolis Hotel, but now very armed members of the Panama National Air Force services carry out strict security measures within and outside the building.

From the street, the laundry can be seen hanging on the window. One of the items is the yellow basketball jersey in Los Angeles Lakers with number 24, worn by the legendary Kobe Bryant player.

In the second window, a group of adults and three children raise their hands with their thumbs in their palms – an international symbol for those who need help. “Help us,” it was written in red letters on the glass.

And two children with covered faces hold the paper leaves with a glass with a message: “Please save the Afghan girl.”

The Iranian woman who lived in Panama for many years told the BBC that she was in contact with one of the migrants at the hotel. She said they were “terrified” because of the possibility of returning to Iran.

The woman, who asked her not to be appointed, said she had gone to the hotel to offer her help as a translator farce, but she was told she already had her.

She added, however, that people at the hotel said it was not true.

Using a hidden mobile phone, since contact with those outside the Decápolis Hotel was not allowed, Iranian said that the migrant had told her that there were several children at the hotel, that they were denied a lawyer and that they were not allowed to leave their rooms even to eat.

After the story of the deports that takes place at the hotel, set safety measures are tightened, and the approach of migrants on the Internet was interrupted, said the woman, said the woman.

The BBC also contacted the Decápolis Hotel and the Panama Government to ask about the conditions within the building, but did not receive an answer.

However, the Panaman Minister of Public Security Frank ábrego said that migrants should not leave the hotel because his government must guarantee the safety and peace of the Panamanci.

The video posted on social networks over the weekend showed one of the migrants who described in Farsi how they were detained after they crossed the border to the United States and said they would take them to Texas, but ended up in Panama.

The woman in the video said that her life would be in danger if she returned to Iran because of the possible retaliation of the Government.

Her intention, she said, is to seek political asylum.

Analysts say it is difficult to get without access to a lawyer – even more when the Panaman government has announced that this approach will not be offered by deportation.

Minister ábrego said on Tuesday that migrants would temporarily remain in Panama under the protection of government in the country.

“What we agreed with the US government is that they are here and that they will remain in our temporary custody for their protection,” he said.

He also warned that those migrants who did not want to return to their country of origin would have to choose a third country.

In this case, he said, the International Migration Organization (IOM) and the High Commissioner of the United Nations for refugees (UNHCR) would be responsible for their repatriation.

A spokesman Iom told the BBC that the organization is in charge of “providing basic support” people deported from the USA.

“We work with local officials to help those who are affected, supporting the voluntary return of those who seek it and identify safe alternatives for others,” he said.

“Although we do not have direct interference with detention or restriction on the movement of persons, we are dedicated to ensuring that all migrants are treated with dignity and in accordance with international standards,” he said.

Ábrego also said that migrants were located at the Decápolis Hotel because of their ability to receive them.

Another senior official said “the arrival of more migrants is not expected” because flights of this species no longer agreed.

Panama agreed that the “bridge” of the state of deportations after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country while the tensions were fluttering because of Trump’s threats that he would “recover” the sovereignty of the Panaman Canal.

Muzaffar Chishti, Senior Researcher at the Migration Policy Institute – the United States Research Center – said many deported come from peoples who were not open to accepting the return of nationals deported from the USA.

“That involves constant diplomatic negotiations with these governments,” he told the BBC.

“Submitting them in Panama, they’re out of the picture now,” he added. “Panama is a headache to take these negotiations and see how these countries agree to receive them again.”

This week, it is expected that the flight that wears deported from the US will arrive in Kostarik, another central American country that agreed with Washington to become a “bridge” deportation nation.

Additional reporting Sheida Hooshmandi, BBC Persian