Panama City, Jul 10 (EFE).- The Panamanian government announced on Wednesday that “four to five steps were closed” in Darienthe natural border between Colombia and Panama, with the aim of channeling the migratory flow through “a humanitarian passage”“and thus more easily “protect” migrants crossing the jungle, in addition to reducing their numbers.
“The closure of the crossings in Darien seeks to protect the safety of migrants,” said the Minister of Public Security, Frank Ábrego, in a statement, who according to the note “confirmed that between four and five crossings were closed through which irregular migrants entered Panama, led by ‘coyotes’, from Colombia.”
Last week, the National Border Service (Senafront) had announced the closure of three crossing points.
This measure seeks to concentrate the work of the Senafront patrols, so that “maintain security and effectively combat people (who) try to commit crimes once morest migrants,” he said.
“What we have tried to establish, precisely to respect human rights and guarantee their lives, was the creation of a humanitarian passage, which begins in Cañas Blancas, continues along the Tuquesa River, passes through Bajo Chiquito and reaches the town of Lajas Blancas, where they are assisted by organizations such as the International Red Cross, the National Red Cross, UNICEF, UNHCR and others,” he explained.
Ábrego also indicated that “rather than closing the border, the goal is to reduce the number of migrants who transit irregularly through the Darien jungle,” which used to number around a thousand a day before the new Panamanian Executive, which began its mandate on July 1, took these measures.
According to the note, “the most recent report reveals that, although the flow of migrants continues, the measures implemented are achieving effective control,” although it did not provide specific figures.
According to the statement, “Many” of these migrants crossing the jungle do not carry identification documents, so they had to resort to alternative methods such as their fingerprints, with which they “managed to detect up to 3,000 people linked to different crimes” y 18 of them were “connected to terrorist activities and were not detected by the Colombian authorities as they passed through the country.”
Notification to Colombia
The minister also reported that “the Colombian Government has been notified regarding the implementation of a safe route for the passage of migrants, with the aim of protecting them from any type of aggression,” and clarified that “in the border area there is no joint immigration post between Panama and Colombia.”
“Therefore, in order to close the migrant crossings, there is no need to consult with the neighboring country,” he said.
In addition, following the agreement reached with the United States to support “the air transport of foreigners,” the minister revealed that “in the coming days, coordination will be held with neighboring countries on the repatriation of irregular migrants, following a series of meetings on the subject.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro had questioned on Tuesday Panama’s decision to close at least three of the crossings used by migrants to cross the Darien River, which marks the border between the two countries, saying that this would only lead to “people drowning at sea.”
“Barbed wire in the jungle will only lead to drownings at sea,” said the president in response to a message from former Colombian President Ernesto Samper, who said that the Panamanian government “accepted the United States policy of blocking migrants at the southern borders, at any cost, so that they do not reach the northern border of Mexico and the United States.”
For Petro, “migration can be stopped by removing economic blockades and improving the economy of the south.”
The closure of these unauthorized crossings or trails occurs in the midst of a large flow of migrants through the Darien jungle, through which more than 195,000 people have crossed this year, most of them Venezuelans, while in 2023 there were more than 520,000, an unprecedented figure, according to official data from Panama.
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2024-07-11 00:54:38
