Thousands of migrants in transit through Panama on his way to USA they find each other stranded due to widespread protests in the country against a controversial mining contractdue to road closures that prevent road travel towards the northern border with Costa Rica.
(You may be interested in: Cubans who receive humanitarian parole in the United States without even asking for it).
The NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) demanded this Wednesday in a statement the need to create a ‘humanitarian corridor’ for the “more than 8,000 migrants” who are detained in Panama due to the protests of recent weeks in the Central American country.
Among these migrants, More than 5,000 are in authorized immigration reception centers by the Panamanian Government and in several towns located in the vicinity of the Darien junglewhich serves as the border between Panama and Colombia.
We request that a humanitarian corridor be enabled. The already difficult conditions of water, food, shelter, safety and health, mainly in Lajas Blancas and Bajo Chiquito, will worsen.
They pass there daily hundreds of migrants, often victims of robberies, rapes, attacks by wild animals or sudden rises in rivers.
According to data from Panamanian authorities, so far this year More than 435,000 people have crossed the jungle, far surpassing last year’s record figure of 248,000.
“We request that enable a humanitarian corridor. The already difficult conditions of water, food, shelter, safety and health “mainly in Lajas Blancas and Bajo Chiquito (the two migratory reception centers) will be worsened by the damming,” said the head of the MSF Panama-Colombia mission, Luis Eguíluz.
Between January and September, Doctors Without Borders provided some 47,000 medical and nursing consultations, 2,100 mental health consultations, 13,500 cures and attended to 290 cases of sexual violence, something that underlines the seriousness of the migrants’ condition after crossing the jungle.
(We recommend you read: Colombians, among the migrant groups that are arriving the most in New York)
He Panamanian government provides the migrant buses, that they must pay for themselves, to make the direct journey from Darién to an immigration care center in Costa Ricabut MSF warned that more than 3,000 migrants “have had their passage interrupted in 50 buses” due to road closures.
Panama has been experiencing uninterrupted protests for ten days to demand the repeal of a mining contract between the State and Minera Panamá, a subsidiary of the Canadian company. First Quantum Minerals, for considering it harmful to the environment and that affects the sovereignty of the country.
The Government defends that it establishes minimum income of $375 million to the treasury, in addition to generating 9,300 jobs.
The law is now being debated in Parliament, where it could be repealed if it advances in two more debates, after having passed the first of the three necessary debates on Tuesday, which could put an end to the crisis.
EFE
#Thousands #migrants #United #States #stranded #due #protests #Panama