immigration

Law threatens rights

The government’s proposed immigration reforms draw criticism from human rights groups.

The Dirección Nacional de Migración says it never not received their recommendations.

LA PRENSA

displaced: Critics say the government’s immigration reforms threaten the human rights of displaced persons and others.987718

At a press conference yesterday, the Mesa Nacional de Migrantes y Refugiados (Menamire), urged the government to suspend its preparations to pass a law intended to reform existing immigration norms and instead send its draft of the bill to the Asamblea Nacional for consultation and open discussion, as it deserves.

Fernando Wing of the Comisión Justicia y Paz and member of Menamire, endorsed the concern expressed by the human rights forum, saying that the government has presented a plan for reorganizing the Dirección Nacional de Migración that addresses State security but that does not take human realities into account.

Wing further reiterated his dissatisfaction over having been given only a presention on the new Dirección Nacional de Migración when he, like other individuals and groups who will be affected by immigration reform, has been asking for an opportunity to discuss the government's plan and make recommendations.

Ricardo Castillo of the human rights group Centro de Promoción e Investigación de Derechos Humanos, said that his analysis of the government's draft law led him to conclude that some of its elements violate the Magna Carta, Panama's constitution. It would also result in the duplication of certain functions; for example, it would transfer some investigataive functions to the Servicio de Migración which are already handled by the Ministerio Público and the Policía Nacional.

Sonia Fuentes, from the Servicio Jesuita a Refugiados, said the proposal reflects a discriminatory policy based on socioeconomic factors. Not only does the draft increase the cost of services, but "[t]he borders will be closed to anyone who does not have the economic power that permits them to invest or open bank accounts."

Another critic, Elisa Vargas of the Red de Organizaciones Civiles para la Migración, warned that the proposed law had best include a focus on human rights, since the rights of immigrants and refugees deserve the State's support.

For their part, immigration authorities have been trying to defend themselves against their many critics from diverse public and private sectors of Panamanian society. Deputy director of Migración, Tayra Barsallo, sent a note to the Comisión de Justicia y Paz, asserting that the proposed immigration reforms were indeed discussed with numerous groups, such as the Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada, Cámara de Comercio, Autoridad del Área Económica Panamá Pacífico, Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa, Colegio Nacional de Abogados, including the Comisión Justicia y Paz this last Jan. 17. Barsallo said she never received its recommendations or suggestions.

José Euceda, a representative from the regional office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has expressed his hope that the proposal will be consistent with the international treaties and conventions that call for a human rights focus with regard to immigration and refugees.

Although the UNHCR was not invited to any formal presentations of the proposal. Euceda said that the Dirección Nacional de Migración had sent him a draft of the reforms and that he had responded with his observations and recommendations. He has not heard back from them. He also said that draft law's focus on State security without much regard for the human rights of immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons is worrisome.