So far this year, 160,690 immigrants have crossed through the Darien jungle in Panama, looking to get to USA; This figure is 20% higher than last year, when 133,000 people crossed. It is estimated that 20,000 of them are children, and sometimes, they arrive without their parents.
Panama’s security minister, Juan Pino, confirmed the number of immigrants, of whom most are of Venezuelan origin, and to a lesser extent they cross Haitians, Ecuadorians, Asians and Africans.
resorting to dangerous crossings through the Darien in search of a better life, security and stability”
“They have become even more vulnerable and cannot meet their basic needs,” so “they are resorting to dangerous crossings across the Darien looking for one better lifesecurity and stability,” said Giuseppe Loprete, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Panama.
The reasons why they use these dangerous routes, such as the darien, is related to the change in migratory frameworks in different countries that Now they require visas according to the regional director of the International Federation of the Red Cross for America, Martha Keays.
The dangers of crossing the Darien
the Darien jungle, located on the border between Panama and Colombiaat the height of department of Chocó, has become a ‘migrant corridor’ of 266 km that take about 10 days to cross on foot.
Those who risk going through there face dangers ranging from meeting with wild animals, go through mighty rivers and face criminal groups. Those who have made the tour claim to have seen dead bodies or people dying begging for help.
Upon arriving at Panama are transferred to various centers for attention to migrants, installed by the Panamanian government and international organizations, where they receive basic services, before continuing on the road to the border with Costa Rica.
“The people who cross the Darien they experience a unimaginable suffering. At our humanitarian service points we frequently attend to dehydration, wounds, animal bites, sexual assault injuries, and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder,” says Keays.
Bearing in mind the seriousness of the conditions in which the immigrants arrive and that the figure mentioned above is of those who manage to cross, it is important to note that the Panamanian authorities cannot determine exactly the number of people dying in the path.
As for children, Diana Romero, Unicef’s emergency protection specialist, estimates that “a total of 20,000 children between January and September 2022″ have passed through the Darién. Most travel with their families, although sometimes they arrive alone to Panama. “We have cases where parents have been separated from their children in transit through the jungle because it is raining very hard or the road is more intense,” added Romero.
Panama requests international aid
Panama cannot assume this responsibility alone. We need help and we are going to demand it
“Once again we have an increase in migration and Panamaá cannot assume this responsibility alone. We need help and we are going to demand it,” said Panamanian Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes.
The migration mass has triggered all the alarms. The situation is growing to a level that the Central American country cannot control and asksinternational help to contain it since the trend indicates that migration will continue to increase while the countries of the south (where the migrants) remain silent.
Despite the dangers “the migration in search of better vine conditionsgoing to continue,” Loprete assured. If the flow of migrants in the region it continues to grow at the same rate “half a million people who travel along the routes of Central America and Mexico will need urgent humanitarian aid,” warned Keays.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING*
With information from AFP.
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