(Panama) More than half a million migrants have crossed the dangerous Darien jungle, from Colombia to Panama, to reach the United States since the start of the year, which constitutes a record, a announced the Panamanian government on Wednesday.
This figure represents double the total for 2022, when some 248,000 migrants made this perilous journey, Panama’s Security Minister Juan Manuel Pino said in a short response to a question from AFP.
On their journey, migrants seeking a better life risk encountering wild animals in the dense jungle, dangerous rivers and criminal gangs who extort money to guide them.
Some 265 kilometers long and covering 575,000 hectares, this jungle has become a necessary passage for migrants who, from South America, try to reach the United States via Central America and Mexico.
Most are Venezuelans, but Ecuadorians, Haitians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Afghans and people from African countries also take this route.
The flow is so great that Panama, with the help of international organizations, has set up migrant assistance centers in different regions of the country.
“The thousands of people who are risking their lives, often with their families, need a protection response and immediate and continued humanitarian assistance,” said Olivier Dubois of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Many are victims of sexual violence, extortion, kidnapping or other crimes, he said at a news conference in Panama.
To curb this influx, the government announced a series of measures in September, including an increase in expulsions of people entering the country illegally.
“The number of migrants who have crossed the jungle is equivalent to more than 11% of Panama’s population. This is an unprecedented crisis that has not received enough attention at the global or regional level,” said Luis Eguiluz of Doctors Without Borders in a statement.
Migrants are “in a situation of extreme vulnerability: hunger, lack of shelter and water points, excessive charges, misinformation and scams, xenophobia and physical, psychological and sexual violence,” he added.