For days, they say they were locked inside a hotel in Panama, surrounded by tight security with limited contact with the outside world.

The group of unauthorized migrants, which includes children, were bused to the camp late Tuesday night. “It looks like a zoo, there are fenced cages,” said one of the detainees.

Converting was colossally risky. While Christians born into the faith are free to practice, Iran’s Shariah laws state that abandoning Islam for another religion is considered blasphemy, punishable by death. Some members of her Bible-study group were arrested.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country won’t agree to direct nuclear talks with the US while President Donald Trump persists with his hard-line policy against the Islamic Republic.