After the new US immigration measure was approved on October 12, the wave of migration that is mostly Venezuelans was reduced.
After having reached the record number of 59,773 irregular migrants in October, the passage of people through the Darién area obtained a notable reduction, according to data from the Panamanian National Migration Service (SNM).
Between January and October, a total of 211,355 irregular travelers arrived in Panama, an unprecedented number, of which 70.1% or 148,285 were Venezuelans, the nationality that drove the wave of migration to the United States this year.
The Panamanian authorities have assured that the flow of Venezuelans was reduced “drastically” after the US government announced on October 12 that all Venezuelan nationals who enter the US having irregularly crossed the border of Mexico and Panama will be expelled to Mexican territory.
In addition, the deportees will be excluded from the program through which the United States will give legal status for two years to 24,000 Venezuelans who arrive by plane and with sponsors.
The Darién, a 266-kilometer journey, has been used for decades as an irregular route by people from all over the world who travel to the United States, in an illegal business that involves organized crime groups and that is not exempt from dangers such as dying at the hands of criminals or by the rigors of nature.
Panama welcomes travelers at migration reception stations (ERM) located on its borders with Colombia and Costa Rica, they take biometric data and offer them medical services and food, in an operation that has consumed at least 50 million dollars since 2020 according to official data.
15% are minors
In this migratory wave there are entire families with children and even babies. According to Panamanian data released this Monday, 15.3% or 32,488 irregular migrants of the total of more than 211,000 who crossed the jungle this year were minors.
This proportion rises to 18.2% in the case of the migratory flow of last October, when the minors who arrived at the MREs totaled 10,910.
“It is one of the years with the greatest increase in people on the move in Darién, particularly children and adolescents,” said UNICEF Child Protection officer Margarita Sánchez last October.
This year, the number of unaccompanied and separated minors and adolescents has also tripled. Until September 22, there were 618 compared to 205 for the entire previous year, added the official of the United Nations entity.
The other nationalities that cross the jungle
Just as “the flow of Venezuelans has decreased considerably (…) there are other nationalities that we are seeing that are increasing, for example, Haiti and Ecuador, and we are very aware of that,” said the president of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, last 3 of November.
According to data from the Panamanian Migration Office, the second nationality that crossed the Darién the most this year are Ecuadorians, 15,185 or 7.1%, followed by Haitians (5.8%); Cubans (2.36%), Colombians (2.2%) and Indians (1.19%).
Last October there was a significant rise in the number of Ecuadorians, which totaled 8,487, the highest figure of the year and far from the 2,594 in September, the 1,581 in August and the 883 in July.
The rest of the irregular migrants came from around thirty countries, especially in Africa and Asia.
Many of the Venezuelans and Haitians come from second or third countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile or Brazil, where they had already established themselves or at least tried to.
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