For days, they say they were locked inside a hotel in Panama, surrounded by tight security with limited contact with the outside world. Nearly 300 migrants from Asia, all deported by the US, were held there by Panamanian authorities who agreed to take them in and eventually repatriate them.

A luxury hotel is housing almost 300 people deported from the US, after Panama agreed to become a "bridge" country.

Nearly 100 migrants who had been locked in a Panama hotel were bused to the camp late Tuesday night. “There are fenced cages,” said one of the detainees.