About 32,500 children have crossed the Darien Gap into the United States this year, setting a record

Since the beginning of this year, the number of migrant children crossing the dangerous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama on foot has reached an all-time high, as warned this Saturday UNICEF.

From January to October, some 32,488 children crossed the Darién Gap into the United States, 10% more than the total number registered in 2021. In addition, the number of unaccompanied children, estimated at about 900, who crossed the Darién also set a record in 2022, quadrupling the previous year’s total.

Each migrant represents a life with great difficulties. During the long journey through the jungle, children and families are exposed to multiple forms of violence, including sexual abuse, trafficking and exploitation, as well as a lack of safe food and water, bites from insects, attacks by wild animals and the overflow of rivers.

Children under the age of five, who make up about 50% of all migrant children, are especially vulnerable to diarrhea, dehydration and other communicable diseases. Additionally, the stress and risk associated with this dangerous journey leaves many children at risk of emotional trauma.

“Violence, poverty and the hope of finding better living conditions lead families with children to flee their homes and face threats in inhospitable environments such as the Darien Gap,” said Hannan Sulieman, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director, during his visit to the Lajas Blancas Migrant Reception Center, a facility close to an Embera indigenous community where Panamanian institutions, with the support of UN agencies, provide them with care.

In Panama, as in many other countries, the increase in the number of migrant children has overwhelmed the capacity to provide basic services in response to their specific needs.

Take steps to protect children

“The United Nations Children’s Fund urges all governments to take action to protect all migrant children, regardless of their origin. Children should never be returned to situations where their basic safety and well-being are at risk,” says UNICEF.

With the support of the European Union and the United States, and in close collaboration with the Panamanian government and other partners, UNICEF has expanded its presence from one to five reception centers on the borders with Colombia and Costa Rica, and in Ciudad de Panama.

The centers provide clean water, hygiene supplies, and health and psychosocial services to thousands of children and pregnant women on the move.as well as the host communities that live in conditions of extreme poverty.

From January to October 2022, some 211,355 migrants crossed the Darién Pass to continue to their destination. Children, who make up 15% of people on the move, are deprived for months, if not years, of education, health and nutrition services, and even their identity documents.

“The increased number of children crossing the Darien Pass places an additional burden on local communities, institutions and humanitarian agencies on the ground,” Suleman said.

“UNICEF calls on donors and partners to provide additional flexible funds to respond to the demanding humanitarian situation of migrant children in the region”.