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Images of the migrants pleading for help through the windows of the 4-star Decapolis topped articles detailing their plight: injuries from attempts to escape, having nearly all their cellphones seized, being cut off from legal counsel and faced with the impossible choice of remaining in detention or returning home to severe persecution.

In a room at the luxury Decápolis Hotel in Panama City, two girls hold a piece of paper to the window with a written message.

On a normal day, tourists can enter and leave the Decápolis Hotel with ease, but now heavily armed members of the Panamanian National Aeronaval Service enforce strict security measures inside and outside of the building.

Using a hidden mobile phone, since contact with those outside of the Decápolis Hotel is reportedly not allowed, the Iranian woman said the migrant told her there were several children in the hotel, that they have been denied a lawyer and that they are not allowed to leave their rooms even to eat.

The BBC contacted both the Decápolis Hotel and the Panamanian government to ask about the conditions inside the building, but did not receive a response.