The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Epsy Campbell, announced that Eduardo Trejos, Costa Rica’s ambassador to Nicaragua will remain in his position in the Nicaraguan Embassy through July 31st.

Trejos was supposed to leave the embassy on July 1st to take on his new position as head of the Security and Intelligence Directorate (DIS).

The decision obeys to the current crisis that Nicaragua is going through and which requires a stable operation of the Costa Rican embassy in this country which is currently handling 400 appointments per day in the Managua consulate and another 250 in Chinandega.

The embassy in Nicaragua also keeps a close contact with Costa Ricans in Nicaragua to ensure that they are aware of security threats, and receive adequate recommendations.

“This is a very delicate moment and what we are doing is an organized transition for whomever takes on the embassy”, said Trejos in an interview with daily La Nacion.

When it comes to the impact that the crisis in Nicaragua has had over Costa Rica in terms of immigration, Campbell stated through a press release: “Since over a month ago, the government activated the Inter-institutional Commission to handle the possible impacts of the Nicaraguan crisis in terms of migration, public health, frontier security and commercial exchange in Central America”.

According to Campbell, the number of Nicaraguans entering Costa Rica through the different frontier control centers has actually decreased in May and the first 17 days of June.

Data by the General Directorate of Migration show that in February a total 30,737 Nicaraguans entered Costa Rica, this number was of 30,737 in March and 38,807 in April; however, for May the number went down to 22,934.

On the other hand, the number of refugee requests by Nicaraguans in Costa Rica has increased, as we reported in the past, and so far in June, Migration authorities confirm that they have received 1,449 requests for refugee from Nicaraguans; yet, they also confirm that they have rejected 9 out of every 10 requests in average, since the majority of the applicants are unable to prove their condition.