Panama will no longer be a transit country for irregular migrants

The new president of Panama, José Raúl millsaid on Monday following taking office for the five-year period 2024-2029 that this country “will no longer be a transit country” for irregular migrants who arrive by the thousands following crossing the Darien jungle, the natural border with Colombia, on their journey to the United States.

“Panama will no longer be a transit country for illegal immigrants. I will not allow local complicity. I ask our security forces to apply the law as appropriate, with strict respect for human rights and adherence to the defense of the interests of our country,” said Mulino.

Mulino has proposed the massive repatriation of irregular migrants who cross the jungle from Colombia, and has also asked the United States for a cooperation agreement to finance it.

195 thousand migrants crossed the jungle

So far this year, more than 195,000 migrants have crossed the jungle, most of them Venezuelans, while in 2023 there were more than 520,000, an unprecedented figure, according to official data. And it is feared that this year the figure will climb to 800,000 people, as Unicef ​​has warned.

The Mulino administration and the US government are expected to sign an agreement on the flow of irregular migrants on Monday during the inauguration ceremonies, in which Washington is represented by Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

“I will not allow Panama to be an open path for thousands of people who enter our country illegally, supported by an international organization related to drug trafficking and human trafficking. That money, the product of profiting from human misfortune, is a cursed money,” said Mulino.

He added that Panama cannot “continue to finance the economic and social costs that massive illegal immigration generates for the country with the consequent involvement of international criminal organizations that generate insecurity at an international level” and force Panamanian security agents “to neglect our territorial and maritime security in other parts of the country,” the new president added.

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