Ecuador's president asks to transfer 3,000 foreign prisoners back to their home countries to serve remainders of their sentences as he tries to regain control of prisons from powerful gangs

Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa has issued a decree that will pave the way for the repatriation of 3,245 foreign inmates to their home countries and barring them from ever stepping foot inside the South American nation.

The measure, which was issued Monday, aims to decrease the population of foreign prisoners incarcerated at overpopulated penitentiaries while the government fights to regain control of a jail system that has fallen under the control of powerful gangs.

Through executive order 139, Noboa granted the National Comprehensive Care Service for Adults Deprived of Liberty (SNAI) the authority to 'carry out the necessary administrative procedures for the repatriation of foreign persons deprived of liberty by sentence issued in Ecuador, so that their sentence is executed in the country of origin or nationality.' 

According to results from the 2022 penitentiary census that were released in July, 31,321 people are being held in 36 prisons.

Ecuadorian authorities have six Colombian men in prison linked to August 9, 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio

There are 2,900 male inmates from foreign countries. At least 1,641 male and female prisoners are from Colombia - six men are in custody for their role in the August 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Ecuador has 1,302 male and female prisoners from Venezuela and Peru is third on the list with 108 of its citizens locked behind bars.

A 2022 study issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that sending foreign inmates to their countries of origin because 'it is a benefit to them and can help reduce violence and overcrowding in detention centers in Ecuador.'

More than 450 inmates have been murdered in jail riots since 2020.

Prisoners were forced to lie on the ground at a yard  at the Regional 8 prison complex during an operation in Guayaquil, Ecuador on January 18. There are at least 31,321 men and women being held in 36 prisons

Soldiers enter the jail in Turi, Ecuador on January 14. The government is rolling out a plan to send back more than 3,000 inmates to their countries of origin in an effort to take away control from powerful gangs

In an interview with Ecuavisa on Monday, Noboa said that the repatriation of inmates would be done in groups of 100.

The prisoners would be either bused to neighboring border crossing points or flown.

'They will not be able to re-enter Ecuador. They are prohibited from entering Ecuador forever,' he said. 'We are no longer going to allow people to go to Colombia and then return to commit the same crimes. He's gone, he's not coming back.'

Noboa, who entered office in November 2023, declared a 60-day state of emergency earlier this month after a gang raided the studios of TC Noticias during a live broadcast and held the staff hostage.

The contingency has suspended the rights of citizens and allowed the military to enter prisons, and designated 22 criminal gangs as terrorist groups.