Chinese woman recaptured after escape from Panama hotel holding hundreds deported by US

One of nearly 300 deportees from various nations sent from the United States to Panama to await repatriation to their countries escaped from a hotel where they were being held in the capital, Panamanian authorities said Wednesday.

Panama’s National Immigration Service said in a statement that a Chinese woman received help in breaking out from people loitering around the hotel.

It said it asked the alleged collaborators to return the woman, warning that they could face human trafficking or migrant smuggling charges.

On Tuesday, some of the 299 migrants detained at the hotel, under police guard and barred from leaving, held up notes from their windows reading things like “please help us” and “We are not safe in our country”.

The deportees, primarily from Asian countries, are in a sort of limbo in Panama after the Central American nation agreed to serve as a transit point for migrants who are hard for the Trump administration to deport directly to their countries.

Around 40 per cent of the deportees have said they would not voluntarily return to their countries of origin, raising questions about how long they would be detained in the hotel.