3 de marzo 2025
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Approximately 300 Nicaraguans have been left in a migratory limbo after being effectively exiled due to entry denials to Nicaragua, according to independent monitoring data from January 2024 to mid-February 2025. The orders involve a chain of command led by Rosario Murillo, according to details revealed in the latest report by the UN’s Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua (GHREN), which was rejected by the dictatorship.
Content creators, entrepreneurs, family members of political prisoners, priests, activists, and even citizens with no political ties are among those who have been effectively exiled by immigration authorities acting on orders from the Ortega dictatorship, based on information analyzed by CONFIDENCIAL in the article "Denied Entry to Nicaragua? An Urgent Guide for the Exiled" published in February 2025.
Lists and Searches on Social Media
In March 2024, an earlier GHREN report confirmed that airlines and bus companies send the lists of passengers intending to enter Nicaragua to the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners in advance.
Migration authorities use these lists to cross-reference names with an updated list they periodically receive from the Ministry of the Interior, identifying individuals who may be flagged to prevent their departure, entry, or re-entry to Nicaragua.
At Migration, officials complement the information with online and social media searches about the individuals flagged, and any data, social media post, or connection deemed “suspicious” is enough to create a file on the traveler and consider them unfit to leave or enter the country.
Notification arrives about 24 hours before
Most of those affected by these entry denials to Nicaragua have chosen not to speak about their situation. Some hope to receive a response that changes the order and allows them to enter the country, although no case has yet been known where the decision was reversed.
However, in the known cases, individuals typically receive an email from the airline, usually 24 hours before their return flight to Nicaragua, informing them that "immigration authorities have not authorized their entry to the country," and therefore, they will not be allowed to board. Others find out only when they arrive at the airline counter.
Who Decides the Entry Denials
The latest report from the UN’s Group of Experts on Human Rights in Nicaragua (GHREN) outlines how the chain of command works for those who decide entry denials to the country. The Group of Experts describes that the process begins with gathering information on citizens considered "a threat to national sovereignty and society." They state that this task is handled by:
- The General Subdirectorate of Police Investigation and Intelligence
- The Directorate of Information for National Defense of the Army
- Operators of the Sandinista Front
- The "intelligence network between the Police, the Army, and a FSLN official" investigates individuals. "This information is then transmitted to the Ministry (of the Interior) official to authorize or deny the person's entry to Nicaragua," they detail.
Next, there is a written or verbal notification from the Ministry of the Interior banning entry to the country, which is sent to transportation companies or border posts entering Nicaragua. These authorities then relay the information to nationals who are denied entry.
The Group of Experts also mentions Law 1228, passed in November 2024, to "deny entry to individuals who may undermine national sovereignty or pose a social risk," through which the dictatorship has institutionalized entry denials and expulsions. The entry denials are also directly influenced by the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Luis Cañas, and the self-proclaimed "co-president," Rosario Murillo.
"The ban imposed on many Nicaraguans from re-entering their country, along with the consular refusal to renew passports, constitutes another violation with transnational repercussions. These measures have left numerous Nicaraguans, including children, in a state of extreme vulnerability, effectively making them stateless," states the GHREN.
They add that "the lack of official documentation prevents regularization or relocation procedures in other countries. These practices—expulsions, entry bans, and passport denial—have also torn families apart and severely hindered family reunification, disproportionately affecting children."
The complaints in this GHREN report, which also details the active participation of the Army in the 2018 repression, were the basis for the dictatorship’s announcement of its withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council.
Other Forms of Repression and Their Consequences
The "migration repression" against another group of more than fifty Nicaraguans also includes the denial of passport renewals or permission to leave the country, according to a report by the organization Monitoreo Azul y Blanco, published by CONFIDENCIAL on February 23, 2025.
The GHREN describes that the chain of command for the expulsion of nationals or denial of entry to their own country also involves the Ministry of Education, which withholds primary and secondary school certificates, including those of children who are banned from entering the country or are in exile.
Similarly, Nicaraguan consulates and embassies refuse to process applications from exiled or displaced Nicaraguans. The denial of entry to Nicaragua also has the following consequences:
- Job loss
- Denial of identity documents
- Denial of certificates or authentication
- Loss of social security rights, with data erased and pension confiscations for retirees
- Confiscation of property from the exiled and/or denationalized.
Who is Denied Entry to Nicaragua
Initially, entry denials were focused on political opponents and activists, but the profile of those affected has broadened significantly. According to the Monitoreo Azul y Blanco report, among those affected:
- 27% are priests, nuns, or Catholic parishioners
- 22% are ordinary citizens
- 17% are family members of victims, activists, or exiles
- 17% are political opponents
- 10% are entrepreneurs
- 4% are journalists
- 2% are doctors
The report details that in January 2025, there was a peak in entry denials that left about 45 people effectively exiled, with a significant number of private entrepreneurs among those affected.
This article was originally published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated by our staff. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.
