Panama claimed this Friday that Colombia “does not want to cooperate in closing the transit” of irregular migrants through the dangerous Darien jungle, the natural border between the two countries, to guarantee an “orderly, safe and regular” migration that will end the humanitarian crisis. and security that this growing flow involves.
Colombia “does not want to cooperate with closing traffic, with minimizing traffic, it is not doing it”said at a press conference the director of the National Migration Service of Panama (SNM), Samira Gozaine, who stressed that so far this year “more than 260,000” migrants have crossed the jungle to North America, a figure record, which already exceeds the total for all of 2022.
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Gozaine assured that after the announcement by the United States that various governments, including Colombia, will cooperate to manage and reduce the flow of irregular migrants to North America, Colombia is allowing “more people” to pass into the jungle.
“So, they are passing the problem to the region, to Panama. We have not even been able to obtain correct information because we have also asked from the humanitarian point of view that they inform us of how many people are coming,” added the migration director.
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It is so Panama has received “in the last days 2,600 – 2,700 – 2,800 people per day in the Darién flow”said the official, who stressed that only last July “more than 55,000 people” entered the country migrants in transit.
In Gozaine’s opinion, “unfortunately” irregular migration through the Darién “is a business for organized groups that are on the Colombian side,” so to deal with the situation “obviously, high-level decisions have to be made to then be able to close the business”, millionaire, because the migrants “pay 1,000 dollars” to cross the jungle.
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“Nobody wants to attack because it is a responsibility” to care for migrants, said Gozaine, who recalled that Panama “is the only country that invests effort and money in caring for this population that arrives almost dying in Darién”.
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In the other countries through which these “do not arrive in these conditions”, Panama has invested “more than 65 million dollars” in food and health assistance that it has offered to migrants for several years, he said.
“No country wants to invest in these people,” he added.
Concern in Costa Rica
Gozaine also expressed his concern that the Costa Rican authorities are “requesting to take some type of measures” aimed at reducing the migratory flow at its border, which would generate an agglomeration in Panamanian territory “that Panama cannot handle now.”
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“They have not told us a number (specific daily crossings), we have received communications from the Foreign Ministry through our Foreign Ministry that they are requesting to take some type of measure,” said the director of Migration.
We call on international organizations that protect the human rights of migrants to also get involved.
He also warned that apparently “businessmen who have their business on the Costa Rican side” are going “to go on strike next Monday”because migrants have become a health risk, which can complicate the situation.
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“We call on international organizations that protect the human rights of migrants to also get involved in protecting the human rights of people in the reception areas (…) they are being affected by the garbage they leave behind on the streets and due to the fact that these people are doing what they need anywhere, without caring about the health consequences that it can bring to the population,” he said.
EFE
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