- Agents have installed barbed fences (“perimeter barriers,” according to official information) at several points in the jungle near the border with Colombia | Photo: EFE
At least 4.7 kilometers, where there were five crossings used by migrants in Darien, the natural border between Panama and Colombia, were “fenced off” by the Panamanian border police to “channel” the flow of passers-by who cross that dangerous jungle on their way to the United States, the authorities of the Central American country announced on Wednesday, July 17.
“We have carried out in-depth operations and actions on the border with Colombia, fencing off more than 4.7 kilometers, which included more than five clandestine crossings used by organized crime to move migrants, with the intention of channeling the flow, not interrupting the migratory movement,” said the director of the National Border Service of Panama (Senafront/ Border Police), Jorge Gobea, in a press conference.
Senafront agents have installed barbed fences (“perimeter barriers,” according to official information) at several points in the jungle near the border with Colombia, where these unauthorized crossings or trails were located, according to images provided by the authorities.
In some of these images you can see the fences next to a monolith that delimits both countries, in the middle of lush nature.
Coastal blockade
In addition, according to Gobea, they have “more than seven boats carrying out a coastal blockade, more than 25 patrols that are constantly on the move, trying to locate those who commit crimes once morest migrants and also (to) assist immigrants who are affected by adverse weather conditions and the crossing through Darién.”
Since July 3, following the new government of José Raúl Mulino took office two days earlier, Panamanian authorities have progressively announced the closure of these trails with “perimeter barriers” to “channel” the flow of migrants who use them as a route to reach North America, in order to create a “humanitarian corridor” to Bajo Chiquito, the first town that migrants reach following crossing the Darién on foot for days.
Migrants say they pay to cross the jungle with “coyotes” in groups, who “abandon” them at some point and who are then often victims of violent robberies and sexual assaults on the Panamanian side. Panama says that it is the Clan del Golfo, the main criminal gang in Colombia, that brings them across and profits from it.
Last week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro questioned Panama’s decision and warned that blocking these crossings will only lead to “people drowning at sea.”
Migrant flow decreases
The director of the Panamanian border police announced that the closure of these five trails has resulted in a decrease in the flow of migrants compared to the same period last year.
It is important to mention that the effect we have had due to these blockades and this channeling is that at this time we are carrying 9,000 fewer migrants compared to the same day last year, so it is a factor that has had a direct impact on the movement,” he said, without giving further details.
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.
The 575,000-hectare Darien rainforest is a national park and the only point where the Pan-American Highway, which connects the entire continent, is cut off.
With information from EFE
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2024-07-18 16:00:27
