Policy Messages and Refugee Political Engagement in Panama: An Application of the Social Construction Framework

This paper presents preliminary findings from a larger project which critically examines refugee policymaking in Panama. As a geographic bridge connecting two continents, Panama has emerged as a transit country for mixed migration flows, with more than 500,000 crossings recorded at its southern border in 2023. Despite the scale of these movements, Panama’s policy responses have largely prioritized the rapid onward transit of migrants, accompanied by extremely low asylum recognition rates and a highly restrictive Refugee Status Determination process, during which asylum seekers enjoy only minimal rights. This is particularly striking given Panama’s formal commitment to human rights and refugee protection, as well as its relatively stable socio-political context and sustained economic growth. Furthermore, although Panama is situated in a region shaped by one of the most progressive refugee frameworks, the Cartagena Declaration, it remains among the few countries that have not incorporated an expanded refugee definition into its domestic legislation. This raises a question of what kind of factors influence Panama to maintain such policy stance? The study aims to examine how refugee policy is developed and implemented in Panama, how refugees are framed and categorized by policymakers and how all of these impact the lived experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. Refugee law scholarship has largely overlooked the politics of reception, specifically, how displaced individuals are treated, processed, and classified upon arrival. Moreover, while refugee and forced migration studies are inherently interdisciplinary, they have not sufficiently engaged with policy discussions grounded in public policy frameworks and theories. The study addresses this gap by applying Schneider and Ingram’s Social Construction of Target Populations and Policy Design Framework (SCF). In addition, although there are some studies applying the SCF on policy processes, which also impact refugees, in various regions, including Australia, China, Mexico and parts of Europe the majority of empirical research remains heavily concentrated in the United States. Exploring its feasibility in Panama presents an opportunity to test the theory on policy processes that are shaped by a more centralized governance and a multi-party system, unlike in the US. In addition, it could help test its applicability to non-Western context, contributing to an improved understanding of how social constructions interact with policy design globally. This paper presents preliminary findings from document analysis and qualitative interviews conducted with refugees and asylum seekers in Panama. While most SCF studies primarily focus on the effects of policy on the political participation of target populations, such as voting, this paper shifts attention to alternative dimensions that are more relevant in the refugee context, where individuals lack formal political rights. Specifically, it examines forms of political engagement such as capacity for mobilization, as well as individuals’ sense of empowerment. Additionally, the analysis considers less explored elements reflecting the influence of social constructions on policy design and target groups, including the visibility of benefits and burdens, the capacity of target populations to bear those burdens, the extent to which individuals must demonstrate their worthiness, and the level of control exerted over them.