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The Panamanian Ministry of Public Security registered a record number of 78,585 migrants who crossed the dangerous Darien jungle on foot in just three months so far this year. A figure that is five times higher than that of the same period in 2022, when there had already been a strong migratory crisis in this jungle that divides Central and South America.
Panamanian authorities warned of particularly high numbers of migrants who crossed its border with Colombia through the Darién Gap this year. This is a particularly difficult and deadly course that also has an environmental impact.
In 2022, more than 248,000 people crossed the border, nearly double the number in 2021. This year, It is estimated that 400,000 migrants could pass through this jungle, breaking all records.
“As has been seen this year, more migrants are going to come, that is what is seen to the south. We already have very high figures, where there is an entry of more than a thousand people daily,” said the Minister of Public Security of Panama, Juan Manuel Pino.
To date, some 25,666 Venezuelans, 21,804 Haitians, 13,842 Ecuadorians, 2,320 Chileans, 1,981 Colombians and 1,897 Brazilians have passed through Panamanian territory. #SafeMigration🇵🇦 pic.twitter.com/kotziwJ8ic
— Ministry of Public Security of Panama (@MinSegPma) March 26, 2023
The vice president of the Central American country, José Gabriel Carrizo, called on the international community to act to limit the massive arrival of migrants to this jungle.
“Thousands of people risk their lives every day, crossing this sanctuary of biodiversity, in a migratory flow that threatens to overwhelm us,” Carrizo remarked at the Ibero-American Summit in Santo Domingo this Saturday.
A deadly border crossing
Every year, tens of thousands of people risk their lives in the Darien Gap, one of the thickest jungles in the world. They are motivated by the same goal: to be able to continue his journey and finally reach the United States.
“This is an inhospitable part of Panama where entire families go looking for a better future towards the United States, being the nationalities of Venezuela, Haiti and Ecuador the most frequent,” explains Pino. Some even started their journey from Africa.
The 100 kilometer jungle border is a hostile place, but it is the only way to reach Central America by land. The migrants must walk three or four days among the trees, crossing rivers and facing various wild animals.
Those who decide to cross this pass face robbery, extortion and rape. Many of the people who are injured on the way or who cannot continue due to exhaustion are left abandoned in the jungle. Migrants often cross dead bodies on the way.
the gulf clan
According to a report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation (FIP) and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), the Clan del Golfo, one of the largest drug trafficking groups in Colombia, maintains “hegemonic control of the region on the Colombian side of the border with Panama.” This results in that both “national and international trafficking networks as well as migrants who arrive alone must interact in some way with the group so that it allows them and facilitates their passage.”
Migrants must pay around $350 to cross the border, as the group charges a “migration-related activity tax.”
But according to the report, border municipalities in Colombia and Panama also benefit economically from this wave of irregular migration. In fact, many women denounced having suffered sexual violence and rape after having passed the Darién and, especially, in the Migrant Reception Stations (ERM) in Panama, where they are transferred upon arrival in the country.
The environmental impact
In addition, the number of migrants that pass through this border affects the Darién nature reserve. When walking, it is common for people to abandon their belongings, leaving piles of clothes and garbage in the jungle. Human excrement and corpses also contaminate river water.
The indigenous communities that live in the jungle have been strongly affected by the increase in the passage of migrants through their land.
“The international community is called upon to generate wills that, while safeguarding human existence, preserve this natural heritage for future generations,” Carrizo said.
with EFE
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