Hundreds deported by us held at the Panama Hotel

In a room in the luxury Decápolis Hotel in Panama City, two girls hold a piece of paper by the window with a written message. “Please help us,” it says.

The hotel offers its customers with sea views, has two exclusive restaurants, swimming pool, spa and private transport. But now it has become a “temporary custody” center, which has not been documented migrants deported from the United States, the Panama Government government said on Tuesday.

Some migrants raise their hands and cross them on their wrists to show that they are deprived of their freedom. Others hang small signs with other messages such as: “We are not safe in our country.”

The Trump administration has promised to deport millions of people who have illegally passed the United States. Those at the Panama City Hotel arrived at three flights last week after President Jose Raul Mulino agreed that Panama would become a “bridge” party to deported.

Of the 299 homeless migrants – from India, China, Uzbekistan, Iran, Vietnam, Turkey, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka – only 171 have agreed to return to their countries of origin.

The rest are now facing an uncertain future, and it is the Panama authorities that control what is happening afterwards.

According to the government, this group will be transferred to a camp in Darien province, which temporarily housed migrants crossing the jungle on the road to the United States.

On a normal day, tourists can enter and leave the Decápolis Hotel with ease, but now highly armed members of the Panama National Aeronadal Service are applying strict security measures inside and outside the building.

From the street you can see the laundry that hangs in a window. One of the articles is a yellow basketball jersey in Los Angeles Lakers with number 24, worn by the legendary player Kobe Bryant.

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

And two children with covered faces hold a piece of paper against the glass with the message: “Please save Afghan girls.”

An Iranian woman who has lived in Panama for several years told the BBC that she was in contact with one of the migrants at the hotel. She said they were “horrified” by the opportunity to be returned to Iran.

The woman who wanted not to be baptized, said she had gone to the hotel to offer her help as a Farsi translator, but was told they already had one.

However, she added that the people at the hotel said this was not true.

Using a hidden mobile phone because contact with those outside the Decápolis Hotel is not allowed, the Iranian woman said that the migrant 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.

Since the history of the deportes held at the hotel was first reported on Tuesday, security measures were tightened and the access of migrants to the Internet was cut off, the woman said.

The BBC contacted both the Decapolis Hotel and the Panam government to ask about the conditions inside the building, but did not receive an answer.

However, Panama Public Security Minister Frank Abrego said migrants have no right to leave the hotel because his government must guarantee the safety and peace of the Panamani.

A video posted on social media over the weekend showed one of the migrants describing in Farsi how they were detained after crossing the border to the United States and saying they would be taken to Texas, but ended up in Panama.

The woman in the video said her life would be in danger if she returned to Iran due to possible repression of the government.

Her intention, she said, is to ask for political asylum.

Analysts say this is difficult to get without access to a lawyer – even more so when the Panama Government announced that this access would not be offered to the deportes.

Minister Abrego said on Tuesday that migrants would remain temporarily in Panama under the protection of the country's authorities.

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

He also warned that those migrants who do 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 (ICE) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugee (VKBon) will be responsible for their repatriation.

A BBC spokesman told the BBC that the organization is responsible for “providing significant support” to people deported from the US.

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

“Although we do not have a direct involvement in the detention or restriction of people's movement, we are committed to ensuring that all migrants are treated with dignity and in accordance with international standards,” he said.

Abreo also said that migrants were accommodated at the Decápolis Hotel because of its ability to accept them.

Another senior official said “the arrival of more migrants is not expected” as no more flights of this type have been agreed with the United States.

Panama agreed to be a “bridge” country for deportations after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the country as the tension of the Trump's Comet to “restore” the sovereignty of the Panama Canal.

Muzafar Chishti, a senior researcher at the Institute of Migration Policy – Brain Trust in the United States – said many of the deporteds come from nations that are not open to accept the return of nationals deported from the United States.

“This implies constant diplomatic negotiations with these governments,” he told the BBC.

“By sending them to Panama, the US is out of the photo,” he added. “It is a headache for Panama to take responsibility for these negotiations and to see how to make these countries agree to receive them again.”

This week, a flight is expected to be deported from the United States to arrive in Costa Rica, another central American country who has agreed with Washington to become a “bridge” nation for the deportments.

Additional reporting from Shada Hooshmandi, BBC Persian