U.S. Deportees Taken To Panama Jungle Camp: 'It Looks Like a Zoo'

Migrants deported from the United States to Panama have been taken to a camp in the outskirts of a jungle that has been described as a "zoo."

The 100 migrants were taken to the location after leaving a hotel in Panama City where conditions were also described as harsh, to the point that one detainee reportedly attempted to commit suicide.

Now at the camp, migrants described the conditions as "primitive," according to a new report by The New York Times. "It looks like a zoo, there are fenced cages," said Artemis Ghasemzadeh, an Iranian migrant, to the outlet. "They gave us a stale piece of bread, we're sitting on the floor," she added.

The Panamanian government has not made an official statement about the relocation and it's not clear how long the migrants will be held there for. It is the latest chapter of an ordeal that began after deportees were taken to the Central American country from the U.S.

The New York Times also detailed that migrants who arrived on the deportation flights were initially stripped of their passports and most of their telephones, and then locked in a hotel, barred from seeing lawyers.

Panama barred journalists from visiting the migrants, but The Times was able to contact some people inside the hotel, all of whom said they were asylum seekers being held against their will. The group was relocated after the report.

Panamanian Security Minister Frank Ábrego told press on Wednesday that U.S. authorities had in fact taken migrants' phones, but claimed they were returned to them on arrival so they could communicate with their families. He added that they were prevented from leaving the hotel "for their own protection," and that authorities are organizing logistics both for those who accepted to be taken back to their home countries and the ones who don't want to. They have a right to apply for asylum in Panama, Abrego said, clarifying that the country has not done it nor it is planning to do so.

More deportees are expected to land elsewhere in Central America on Thursday, as Costa Rica becomes the latest country to receive migrants from third countries. Most of the deportees hail from Asian nations such as China, Afghanistan, China and Pakistan, NBC News reported. About half of all arriving are Children, said Omer Badilla, Costa Rica's deputy minister of the interior and police. None have criminal records but all entered the U.S. unlawfully, authorities added.

Badilla justified the decision "because of our history and our customs as human rights protectors." Moreover, Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said the decision seeks to help its "economically powerful brother from the north."

"If they impose a tax in our free zones, it'll screw us," Chaves said. "I don't think they'll do it, thank God ... love is repaid with love ... 200 will come, we treat them well and they will leave," he added.

The migrants being sent to Costa Rica are mostly from countries for which repatriations might take longer to process. According to The New York Times, they will be sheltered in a facility in the canton of Corredores. Although it is not clear how long deportees will have to wait before being repatriated, the Costa Rican government confirmed that it intended to "serve as a bridge" for them to return to their countries of origin.