The US, Colombia and Panama evaluate alternatives to mitigate migration through the Darién

First modification: 04/12/2023 – 00:20Last modification: 04/12/2023 – 01:49

Mayorkas had a working meeting with the foreign ministers of Panama, Janaina Tewaney, and Colombia, Álvaro Leyva, this Tuesday, April 11. A meeting that takes place while the number of irregular migrants who cross the inhospitable jungle of the Darien, on the Colombian-Panamanian border, in search of the American dream reaches a new record.

“Those who seek to come to the United States must take advantage of the safe, orderly and legal pathways that we are presenting to them,” Mayorkas told reporters at the close of the meeting in Panama City.

“The United States has significantly expanded those pathways, as have our partners, and we look to continue expanding them as an alternative to the perilous journey many undertake,” he added.

However, Mayorkas warned that “individuals who enter the United States illegally will continue to face consequences, including removal.

“The United States continues to enforce our immigration laws,” he added.

Some 100,000 people have crossed the Darien jungle this year on their way to the United States, six times more than in the same period of the previous yearaccording to data provided to AFP by the Panamanian National Migration System.

In 2022, almost 250,000 migrants crossed this junglea natural border 266 km long and 575,000 hectares full of dangers such as wild animals, mighty rivers and criminal groups.

“Humanitarian Approach”

During the meeting, Mayorkas and the two foreign ministers discussed possible measures to deal with irregular migration.

Possible “legal and flexible pathways for migrants and refugees as an alternative to crossing the Darién” were also discussed, Tewaney said.

The number of migrants in the Darién has risen exorbitantly in the last decade, going from 3,140 in 2013 to 100,000 in the first hundred days of 2023.

“Each of the countries had the opportunity to present their concerns and proposals for better management of the flow of people with an always humanitarian and security focus,” Tewaney said.

“This trilateral meeting is also a call to action for the implementation of regional actions,” added the Panamanian foreign minister.

Most of the migrants who cross the Darién are Venezuelans, Haitians and Ecuadorians, although there are also Asians, mainly from China and India, and Africans, especially from Cameroon and Somalia.

“Unprecedented Flow”

At least 52 migrants died in 2022 in the Panamanian jungle, according to official figures. But the authorities do not know the real figure due to the inaccessibility of the land, the lack of complaints and the abandonment of the bodies.

To bury migrants who die in the Darién, a month ago the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered a hundred niches in the municipal cemetery of the jungle village of El Real de Santa María.

The risks accompany migrants not only in the Darién, but throughout their journey: on February 15, 40 migrants died when a bus overturned in western Panama and another 40 died on March 27 in the fire of a detention center in Ciudad Juárez, in northern Mexico.

Among the points of that plan is an increase in border security to combat human trafficking, greater investments to increase employment and reduce poverty with the help of international financing.

“Climate change and the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic have led to an unprecedented flow of vulnerable people around the world, including in our hemisphere,” Mayorkas said.

with AFP