The Panamanian government has informed New Delhi about the arrival of a group of Indians deported from the United States to the Latin American country, the Indian Embassy in Panama, Nicaragua, Costa Rica said on Thursday.

“They are safe and secure at a hotel with all essential facilities,” the embassy on X. “Embassy team has obtained consular access. We are working closely with the host government to ensure their wellbeing.”

The statement did not mention how many Indians had arrived in the country.

However, this is part of a larger group of 299 undocumented migrants from India being sent to Panama by the US government. Deportees also arrived in Panama on three flights last week after President Jose Raul Mulino agreed to make the country a “bridge” country for them, PTI reported.

The US has deported at least 335 Indians back to their country since February 5. The development comes against the backdrop of a wider crackdown by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The statement on Thursday also came a day after reports claimed that nearly 300 deportees from several countries, including India and China, were confined in a hotel in Panama, NDTV reported.

Panama’s Security Minister Frank Abrego, however, denied the allegations and said that the deportees were receiving medical attention and food at the hotel as part of a migration agreement between their government and the US.

Abrego added that they were not allowed to leave the hotel while international authorities arranged for their return to their countries of origin.

The Costa Rican government had also agreed to accept a US flight on Wednesday with 200 undocumented migrants from India and Central Asia who were being deported.

The deportees would be housed at migrant centres till they were eventually sent to their countries of origin.

The repatriation, funded by the US, was being supervised by the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration, which would oversee the migrants’ care during their stay in Costa Rica.

Earlier, El Salvador and Guatemala had also offered to accept deportees from the US.

On January 24, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it was committed to repatriating Indian nationals residing abroad without proper documentation. This came after reports that India was working with the Trump administration to deport around 18,000 undocumented or visa-overstaying Indian nationals from the US.

After meeting Trump in Washington on February 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stated that India is willing to take back its nationals living illegally in the US.

A 2022 US Department of Homeland Security report estimated that 220,000 undocumented Indian migrants were living in the country. More than 1,100 Indians were deported in the 12 months leading up to October 2024.