Mulino announces that the flow of migrants through Darien has decreased after installing the “fences”

Panama City, Jul 18 (EFE).- Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced Thursday that the migratory flow through Darién, the jungle bordering Panama and Colombia, has “decreased” so far in July compared to the previous month following the installation of barbed “fences” at some unauthorized crossings to “channel” the passage of migrants.

“I am pleased to see the reports that the National Border Service (Senafront/Border Police) has sent to my management regarding the real decrease in the transit of people” through Darien, Mulino said at a press conference that he hopes to repeat every Thursday.

The Panamanian president explained that in June, some 31,049 migrants crossed the dangerous jungle, “and so far in July, 11,386, with Venezuela accounting for 66% of the nationalities, Ecuador 7%, Colombia 7%, China 5% and Haiti 5%.”

“I think the system of putting up fences and redirecting traffic in one direction has helped a lot, as has the intense 24-hour patrol,” he added.

Since July 3, Panama has progressively fenced off some 4.7 kilometers in Darien with “perimeter barriers” (barbed wire fences), where there were at least five unauthorized crossings or trails to “channel” the flow of migrants through a “humanitarian corridor.”

The border with Colombia in Darien is 266 kilometers long.

The closure of these trails occurs in the midst of a large flow of migrants through the jungle, which has left record numbers and overwhelmed the authorities of Panama, a country that offers them assistance and food in shelters located in Darien so that they can continue their journey in buses, paid for by the migrants, to Costa Rica.

So far this year, more than 208,000 migrants have crossed the Darién, most of them Venezuelan, while in all of 2023 there were more than 520,000, an unprecedented figure, according to official data from Panama.

Applauds possible agreement between Costa Rica and the US

The Panamanian president also applauded the rapprochement between the United States and Costa Rica to establish an agreement for the repatriation of migrants, similar to the one already signed between the North American country and Panama, while announcing his desire for the existence of an agreement between the United States, Costa Rica and Colombia to address the migration crisis.

“I am very pleased that Costa Rica is interested in signing a similar agreement with the United States (…) It is very important because these are our two borders. (On the one hand) Colombia (which is) a mess and Costa Rica, which does not have it so easy either.”

Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André announced yesterday in Washington that his government is considering promoting a migration agreement with the United States focused on the voluntary repatriation of migrants.

This would be similar to the one already signed by Panama with the US Executive last July, the same day that Mulino was sworn in as president, for those migrants who cross the Darien, for a value of 6 million dollars.

This funding will be used, among other things, for deportation flights for people on the move who do not “need international protection or other legal requirements” to remain in the Central American country, according to official information.

“I hope to have the announcement of the first air repatriation as soon as possible,” Mulino said on Thursday.

However, he stressed during the press conference that these repatriations from Panama “cannot be forced,” a statement that authorities in his government have made on other occasions.

“(Migrants) are human beings, they are not criminals. They are people who are seeking the American dream, as they say,” said the Panamanian president, who has maintained a strong anti-immigration discourse.