Panama Regional Office

UNHCR’s Regional Office in Panama covers activities in Panama, the Northern Triangle of Central America (Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala) and Cuba.

Working environment

• Forced displacement generated by transnational organized crime remained largely invisible and not fully recognised by the countries of origin, transit and destination. Affected countries in Central America had limited capacities to identify, register and effectively ensure access to protection and solutions for their nationals who fled persecution.
• Given the tighter migratory controls in the United States and Canada, citizens from El Salvador and Honduras seeking international protection applied for refugee status in Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama in higher numbers than in previous years. 
• A study supported by UNHCR and released in November 2015 provided a first look at the phenomenon and dimensions of internal displacement due to violence within Honduras.

Population trends

• The increasing trend of persons of concern from and within the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA) - El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala - accelerated during 2015. Although the US continued to be the preferred country of asylum for NTCA citizens (49,557 new claims in 2015, 91 per cent increase compared to 2014), the numbers continued to increase in Mexico and other Central American countries.
• In Honduras, a Government study, supported by UNHCR, estimated the presence of at least 174,000 IDPs due to violence and criminality in 20 main municipalities (4% of the total population in the area covered). UNHCR is supporting similar studies in El Salvador and Guatemala in 2016-17.
• There were 230,000 deportations of NTCA citizens from the US and Mexico in 2015, almost double than at the beginning of the decade. UNHCR reported at least 18,700 of them as deportees with possible protection needs in 2015 (10,100 for El Salvador, 5,100 for Honduras and 3,500 for Guatemala), though these numbers – based on government registration systems - are believed to be largely under-estimated. 

Achievements and impact

• The Government of Panama showed more openness to supporting solutions-oriented programmes and to strengthening local integration efforts, although effective implementation is pending for 2016.
• In an effort to clear the backlog of asylum cases, the National Office for the Attention of Refugees (ONPAR) recently adopted fast track measures, which raised concerns about due process. UNHCR responded to this problem within the framework of the Quality Assurance Initiative (QAI) and funded the salaries of two asylum officers at ONPAR. 
• UNHCR developed a three-year regional comprehensive protection and solutions strategy (countries of origin, transit and destination).
• UNHCR published Women on the Run, a study that served as a strong advocacy tool for the inclusion of people of concern in national laws and policies, including ensuring the identification of, and appropriate responses to women.
• UNHCR organized numerous capacity-building and sensitivity exercises with governmental and civil society actors in all three NTCA countries. These practical exercises, focusing on interviewing techniques, were expected to enhance reception.

Unmet needs  

• The protection and solutions strategy remained a minimal response based on limited resources. In order to respond to the crisis and carry out the full strategy, it is necessary to scale up the presence of UNHCR in the NTCA. 
• Civil society and the Government lacked the necessary infrastructure and expertise to adequately respond to needs, and UNHCR has a limited presence to provide the necessary support and technical assistance to local actors.
• More support for the identification and referral of deported persons with protection needs and displaced persons was needed in the NTCA. There was a shortage of asylum officers to deal with cases in a timely manner (response may take up to two years) in Panama.