Until July 30, the Panamanian authorities reported that they had recorded at least 248,901 migrants who have crossed the Darién jungle so far in 2023. A figure that is already higher than the crossings registered in all of 2022, the year it experienced Unpublished migratory figures, until now. The Darien jungle is one of the most dangerous border crossings in the world due to its hostile weather conditions and the presence of criminal groups in the area, characteristics that do not intimidate those fleeing their countries of origin.
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“Unfortunately, today the record of the total that had been unprecedented was broken. In 2022, 248,284 people entered Panama, which today breaks that record with 248,901 people,” said Maria Isabel Saravia, deputy director of Migration of Panama, to the EFE agency this July 21.
The high influx of crossings in the Darién Gap is headed by the victims of the Venezuelan exodus, with more than 100,000 nationals using the route that crosses this natural border that connects South and Central America. The presence of Haitians (34,082) and Ecuadorians (34,357) on the list add to the historical record now set in this first half of 2023.
“We are facing a humanitarian crisis of great proportions. Something that Panama cannot address alone,” Saravia stressed about a year that, according to official estimates if this trend continues, will end with around 400,000 irregular border crossings through the Darien.
The presence of minors in the contingents of migrants crossing the jungle is worrisome. According to Panamanian authorities, 21% of people attempting to cross are minors, and of those, at least half are children five years of age or younger. A situation that has forced Panama to request urgent international help to deal with a migration crisis that increases exponentially every year.
IOM: at least 137 deaths of migrants registered in the Darién during 2023
The high danger of this natural border with more than 100 kilometers in length with still unexplored areas is confirmed by international actors such as the United Nations. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 137 deaths or disappearances of migrants have been reported in the Darién Gap so far in 2023, although they stress that the real figures “are much higher.”
Panama echoes international warnings. The deputy director of Panamanian Migration explained that “the Darién is not a route”, since its rugged terrain and the use of the territory by criminal gangs to transport narcotics from Colombia to the north of the continent make the Darién an “undeserving” place to migrate .
“A jungle in its definition is not a passable place. It is a dangerous place, and even more so when it borders a gray area on the Colombian side, where organized crime reigns,” Saravia remarked, ending by reiterating his call to the international community to ” address the causes of this mobility”.
The Darien jungle represents one of the most dangerous migratory corridors in the world, but which in turn is highly traveled by connecting South America by land with the possibility of the ‘American dream’.
The end of the restrictions implemented by Title 42 in the United States has generated a substantial increase in immigration crossings in the south, although not many reach the border between Mexico and the United States due to the strong immigration control on the southern border of Mexico and Central American countries. An attitude that has been the object of multiple criticisms from organizations defending Human Rights.
With EFE and local media
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