Nearly 87,390 migrants have crossed the insecure Darién jungle, the natural border between Panama and Colombia, during the months of January, February and March 2023, seven times more than in the first quarter of 2022, according to a report published by the National Service. of Migration (SNM).
The Migration report shows that the total number of migrants that have entered Panama so far this year far exceeds the figure of 13,796 registered in the same period of 2022.
By nationality, among the migrants who have crossed the Darién this year, those from Venezuela predominate with a total of 30,250 as of March 31, followed by Haiti with 23,640; Ecuador, with 14,227; China, 3,855; India, 2,543; Chile, 2,499; Colombia, 2,230; Brazil, 2,072; Afghanistan, 926; Cameroon, 532; Somalia, 444; and Peru, 400.
March, for its part, was the month that closed this year with the highest number of migrants, with 38,099; while February totaled 24,657 and January 24,634.
The main arrivals of migrants in this month of March were those of Venezuelans, with 28,816; Haitians, 6,896; Ecuador, 2,772; India, 913; Colombia, 1,260; Dominican Republic, 84; Cuba, 220; and from other countries, 5,138, details the SNM report.
Of those who crossed the Darién jungle in March, 30,929 were adults and 7,170 minors.
The Panamanian authorities and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) have warned and expressed concern about the growing number of minors arriving in Panama through the Darién jungle, many accompanied by their families, but also alone.
“We have had the testimony of people who even leave them abandoned in the jungle because they cannot handle them,” said the director of the National Migration Service, Samira Gozaine, who described this fact as “something very tragic.”
Gozaine urged that it is necessary to “begin to make decisions” in relation to this matter.
“We believe that all countries have to come to an agreement, to ensure that we protect the well-being of these children, who through this jungle suffer harassment,” Gozaine remarked.
Unicef warned in a statement this week that more than 9,700 children and adolescents crossed the Darién jungle in January and February 2023, a record number seven times higher than those registered in the same period of the previous year.
This figure, according to Unicef, “is the highest that has been recorded in a period of two months since these records were kept,” and indicates that in the same period of the previous year less than 1,400 were counted by the Panamanian authorities. .
Likewise, UNICEF warned that the number of unaccompanied or separated minors continues to grow, and, based on the first two months of 2023, estimates that “an average of 5 children per day arrive alone in Panama or at least 200 so far of the year”, while in 2022 in the same period it registered “less than 40”
Unicef considers that separated or unaccompanied children are “particularly vulnerable to violence, abuse and exploitation”.
Panama is the entrance to Central America from the south of the American continent and serves as a passage for thousands of irregular migrants from countries around the world who travel by land to the United States.
The growing trend of this migratory flow has led to an estimate of around 400,000 people who will cross the Darién jungle this year on their journey north, almost double the more than 248,000 who did so in 2022.
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