Transcript Immigration to Costa Rica

Immigration to Costa Rica
MARY MURPHY
GRAD STUDENT INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Immigrants to Costa Rica
 Receiving country
 Highest percent of immigrants in Latin America
 9% of Population – 2012 census
 Jus Soli – place of birth citizenship
Latin America: Percentage of migrants by
country, 2010-2011
Top 10 Countries of Origin
Foreign Population, 2012 Census Data
PanamaCanada
3%
3%
United States
4%
Spain
4%
Colombia
5%
Nicaragua
75%
Nicaragua
Colombia
Spain
United States
Panama
Canada
El Salvador
Honduras
United Kingdom
China
Colonial Immigrants
 European Immigrants
 Myth of an Uninhabited Land
 Myth of Whiteness
 Active recruitment of European settlers to populate the country – “desirable” immigrants
because of perceived cultural similarities
 Europeans settled in urban areas – worked in handicrafts and commence
 Strong need for labor in agriculture - Nicaraguans, Jamaicans, and Panamanians – considered
“necessary undesirables”
Historical Immigration Policies
 Late 1800s early 1900s Costa Rica actively excluded Chinese, Arabs, Turks, Armenians, Africans
 1920s agriculture boom and need for labor – increased migration from Central America and the
Caribbean
 1930s economic crisis and crackdown on undocumented immigrants - mass deportation of
black laborers
 1940s increased use of Nicaraguan workers in agriculture – increased discrimination and
xenophobia
 1950s post WWII resettlement of European immigrants
 1970s/80s/90s refugees fleeing political and social violence
Nicaraguan Immigrants
 1980s immigrants and refugees forced out
of Nicaragua due to the Contra War
 Estimated more than 500,000 migrants
entered CR
 CR provided refugee status, but cracked
down on undocumented immigration
 Barriers in housing, education, and health
care and migrants live in run-down
neighborhoods
 Work in agriculture and are fundamental to
the economic development of CR, more
recently moving to urban centers
Source: Migration Policy Institute, Business as Usual? Regularizing Foreign Labor in Costa Rica
Distribution at the District Level of the Nicaraguan Population
Source: Migration Policy Institute, Business as Usual? Regularizing Foreign
Labor in Costa Rica
Regional Migrants
 South-South migration
 Costa Rica is economically,
politically, and socially stable draws economic migrants
 Currently hosting migrants from
Honduras, El Salvador and
Guatemala escaping violence
Amenity Migrants
 North-South Migration
 US, Canada, Europe, Australia
 Tourists/Retirees – seeking amenities
such as mild climate, intercultural
experiences, inexpensive lifestyle,
natural beauty
 Permanent, seasonal, or circular
 Significant source of direct foreign
investment
Irregular Migrants
 South-South, South-North
 Africans, Haitians, Asians, Cubans
 More than 26,000 migrants in 2016
 Bottlenecked in CR because Nicaragua closed
border late 2015
 Many trying to get to the United States
 Living in refugee camps on Northern and
Southern border
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rON3OQcj
WI
Source: Tico Times, Migrants from Africa, Asia and Haiti at a makeshift camp near
the Peñas Blancas border crossing on July 12, 2016
Final Thoughts
 Deeply embedded xenophobia and
racism cause ethnic tensions
 Policy shift towards integration
instead of enforcement
 Still a developing country,
increased immigration may have a
negative impacts economically,
socially, and politically
Source: The Tico Times, A mural painted by Cuban migrants staying at a
shelter in the town of La Cruz, Guanacaste, near the border with Nicaragua.
¿Preguntas?