This Saturday, the Colombian Migration authorities announced that they will strengthen their presence in the Acandí and Necoclí municipalities, which are a gateway for immigrants who intend to cross the Darién, to reach the United States through its southern border. According to figures from the authorities, more than 100,000 irregular migrants have already crossed the jungle so far this year, a worrying increase.
The authorities reported that work will be done on the creation of an immigration verification center in Acandí and that of Necoclí will be consolidated, Border Dialogues for Life will be scheduled in Acandí and Turbo, and workshops on immigration regulations will be held in these three municipalities.
The town of Necoclí is the main port where migrants arrive on their way to Darién, from there they take a boat that leaves them in Acandí, department of Chocó to undertake the journey through the dangerous jungle that can take a week to reach Panama .
The Panamanian authorities recently requested more concrete actions to address the migration crisis in the region, due to the increase in the flow of immigrants that could double the total in the entire year of 2022. In March the numbers of people who passed through the Darién closed with 38,099; while February totaled 24,657 and January 24,634.
“If migration continues as it has up to now, we will have a number that doubles the previous one”, of more than 248,000 migrants crossing the Darién,” said Panamanian Foreign Minister Janaina Tewaney Mencomo.
The head of Panamanian diplomacy affirmed that her country has already entered into conversations with all the actors” and has “been carrying out coordination to address this crisis from the humanitarian and security perspectives. “Some agreements that have to be fulfilled and we are waiting for them to be fulfilled and we are going to do so,” she told the local media.
For his part, the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, reported this Monday that the presidency of Joe Biden will announce new border policies to address the new migratory flow that will arrive when the restrictions established during the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted on May 11 of this year.
With information from EFE
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