Panama City (EFE) in the first half of 2022.
“The number of irregular migrants, who enter illegally through the various trails of the Darién province, from January 2023 to this Wednesday (…) registers a total of 201,167 people,” the Panamanian Ministry of Public Security reported in a statement.
This represents “a considerable increase compared to the first half of 2022, whose figure was 49,452 people,” he noted.
The total number of migrants who crossed the Darién jungle in 2022 was 248,284, an unprecedented number until then. And that this year is expected to double if the flow of arrivals from Colombia continues at this rate on its way to North America.
The dangerous jungle of the Darien
The Panamanian authorities warned, however, of the dangers of crossing this jungle and stressed “that although migration is a universal right, it is important to carry out mobility in a regular, orderly and safe manner.”
The Darien jungle is one of the most dangerous crossings in the world, in which natural threats, with swollen rivers, wild animals or the lack of drinking water due to the corpses and excrement of migrants, are compounded by criminal attacks. who rob, kill and rape the hundreds who cross the place daily.
Among the migrants who have crossed the Darién so far this year, more than half are Venezuelans (103,028). Followed by Haitians (33,553), Ecuadorians (25,925), Chinese (8,964) and Colombians (6,484). Other numerous nationalities are Chilean, Indian or Brazilian.
This 2023, the month with the greatest flow of migrants on their journey to the United States was April, with 40,297. Followed by May, with 38,962 and March with 38,099. In the first five days of July, 4,796 people crossed the Darién.
During these months, immigration measures in the United States have been changing.
Unprecedented migratory flow
Washington activated new immigration restrictions on May 11, at the end of what is known as Title 42 and Title 8 was applied in its place, the norm that has historically governed migration in this country, to which were added other measures that restrict access to request asylum at its southern border with Mexico.
Panama receives irregular travelers heading to North America at immigration stations located near its southern border with Colombia and on the northern border with Costa Rica, where it offers them healthcare and food, in a unique operation on the continent that involves a dozen of international organizations.
The Darién is a 575,000-hectare national park in Panama, declared a World Heritage Site in 1981. According to the records of the Panamanian authorities, in 2019 22,102 migrants entered through this route, 8,594 in 2020. And in 2021 another 133,726 people, a number on the rise that continues.
The unprecedented migratory flow in the American continent is due to the flight of thousands of people from economic and political crises, violence or the effects of climate change on populations, and is linked to human trafficking, the most illegal business currently lucrative, according to international experts.