As Nicaraguans flee their country by the thousands amid a violent crackdown on protesters, the United Nations is calling on other nations to support Costa Rica, which is receiving many of the refugees. The number of asylum applications by Nicaraguans to neighboring Costa Rica and other countries has “increased exponentially,” U.N. Costa Rica is currently receiving an average of 200 asylum applications from Nicaraguans per day. Since April, when anti-government protests began in Nicaragua, Costa Rica has registered nearly 8,000 asylum claims by Nicaraguans and has scheduled about 15,000 for later registration. Amid the protests and subsequent crackdown by Nicaraguan security forces, about 300 people have died and thousands have been injured ― most of whom were civilians killed by police or pro-government paramilitary groups, human rights groups say.

Source: Huffington Post August 01, 2018 22:07 UTC