- Panamanian authorities attribute this decrease in migrants through this crossing to the measures taken in July by President José Raúl Mulino.
Panama’s National Migration Service (SNM) recorded a 52% reduction in migration flow through the Darien jungle during the first 14 days of August, compared to the same period in July.
According to statistics from the Panamanian agency, 5,388 people crossed the jungle in the first days of August, compared to the 11,363 migrants who crossed in July.
These data were shared by the SNM to the media The Star of Panama and replicated by the international agency Europa Press.
Panamanian authorities attributed the decrease in the migratory flow to the measures implemented since July by the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, which aim to stop the transit of people through the Darién Gap.
The SNM also highlighted in the information provided to the Panamanian media that Venezuelans continue to lead the nationalities of migrants in transit, with a total of 3,318 people who crossed the jungle in the first days of August.
Colombians, Ecuadorians and Haitians complete the nationalities of the migrants registered at the crossing between Panama and Colombia, according to reports from the SNM to the local media.
The measures established since July by Panama include the barbed wire blockade of five routes in Darien, allowing a single route for the controlled flow of migrants.
Other sources in the Ministry of Environmental Security The Star of Panama They also revealed that they hope, by the end of 2024, to reduce the transit of at least 100 thousand migrants through the Darien crossing.
US is ready to begin deportation flights
US President Joe Biden assured on August 14 that his country “is ready” to start the agreement with Panama to return through Deportation flights for migrants crossing the Darien jungleafter holding a telephone meeting with his Panamanian counterpart.
Panama and the United States signed an agreement on July 1 to return migrants who cross the Darien River via flights financed by the United States. The agreement involves US support valued at 6 million dollars.
The aim is to reduce the flow of migrants through the dangerous Darien jungle, which more than 216,000 migrants had crossed by July, according to figures from the SNM.
Repatriation of migrants will be to Colombia
Los Repatriation flights will be to Colombiaas a border country and from where these passers-by enter, the Panamanian president announced on August 8.
“The repatriation flights will be to Colombia. Everyone enters through Colombia, not Venezuela. We do not have a border with Venezuela, it is Colombia, and that issue is being resolved,” Mulino said at his weekly press conference.
The week of August 5, the head of the U.S. Southern Command, General Laura Richardson, visited Panama and held meetings with several authorities, including the Panamanian president.
“I discussed this issue and told General Richardson that we are waiting for the memorandum of understanding (MoU/the agreement between both parties to repatriate migrants),” Mulino said.
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2024-08-15 19:34:20
