2023-11-10 13:56:00
(CNN) — Human Rights Watch (HRW) delivered this Thursday the first of a series of reports on the situation that migrants experience when crossing the Darién, the jungle between Colombia and Panama. The 58-page document highlights abuses, including sexual abuse and the strengthening of organized crime.
The report is a summary of the findings collected during four visits to numerous routes in the Darién, between April 2022 and June 2023, where HRW interviewed regarding 300 people to document the causes and responses to the migration crisis, the report says.
One of the conclusions says that Human Rights Watch obtained evidence that restrictions on movement from South American countries to Mexico and Central America, often promoted by the United States, have contributed to increasing the number of people crossing the Darien Gap.
Migrants, mostly from Haiti, ford one of the many rivers they will cross during a trek through the infamous Darien Gap on their journey toward the United States on October 7, 2021 near Acandi, Colombia. Credit: John Moore/Getty Images
In the last year, more than half a million people have crossed the Darien Gap on their journey north, generally towards the United States, the report highlights. Many are fleeing the human rights crisis, violence, persecution and poverty, he adds.
Among the nationalities mentioned, Venezuelan, Haitian and Ecuadorian stand out, but also people from other regions such as Asia and Africa risk their lives in this jungle, says HRW.
The detailed data indicates that more than 440,000 Venezuelans have crossed the Darién Gap since January 2022, the highest number among all nationalities.
According to HRW, Venezuelans are fleeing a serious humanitarian emergency, which has limited access to food and medicine, as well as abuses and persecution by security forces, armed groups and gangs.
However, in fleeing, migrants are not free from crime, because the report cites that “on the Colombian side of the Darién, the Clan del Golfo, an armed group involved in drug trafficking, regulates the routes that migrants and applicants can use.” of asylum”.
Regarding the Panamanian side, the report says that robberies and sexual abuse are routinely committed. The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has assisted 950 people, most of them women, who reported sexual violence while crossing the Darien since April 2021, the report adds.
CNN has requested comments on the report from the Communications Secretariat of the State of Panama, with no response yet. CNN also requested reactions from the Colombian government through its Foreign Ministry, without comment yet.
Among the resolutions, the report quotes Juanita Goebertus, director of Human Rights Watch for the Americas: “The growing migration challenges in our region demand new regional policies that guarantee the rights of people on the move.”
“The painful stories we hear in the Darien Gap are the result of failed immigration policies that push migrants into a jungle where they are exposed to all kinds of dangers,” Goebertus added.
A woman from Haiti is helped following she collapsed in the mud during a hike through the Darien Gap on her journey to the United States on October 5, 2021 near Acandi, Colombia. Credit: John Moore/Getty Images.
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