Colombian authorities have rescued more than 158 migrants in the Caribbean Sea

The Colombian Navy recorded, this Monday, that they have rescued 158 immigrants so far this year, in 10 boats that went from the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago to Nicaragua or other Central American countries such as Panama to begin their journey through the Darién Jungle.

Information from the Ombudsman’s Office requested with this statement that safe and legal immigration conditions be provided for migrants. “So far this year, in 10 interdictions, 158 people have been rescued by the National Navy on the routes from the Caribbean Sea to Nicaragua and other places in Central America,” said the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo.

Therefore, the Colombian human rights organization called on government entities to guarantee safe, legal and respectful migration conditions for human rights. “The irregularity is constituted by boarding a vessel that does not meet the safety conditions for the journey, not having the documentation or permits,” Camargo said.

The San Andrés archipelago, in the Colombian Caribbean, has increased its flow due to the large number of people crossing through the Darien jungle, which separates Colombia from Panama, and the dangerousness of the journey through this dense and mountainous jungle.

At the beginning of this month, at least thirty immigrants of Chinese origin were rescued by the Colombian Navy one nautical mile from Cabo Tiburón, near the Department of Chocó, while they were sailing towards Panama, presumably to undertake the journey to the Darién Jungle as part of the migratory journey to the north of the region.

The vessel was intercepted in its attempt to cross the border into Panama, after a Rapid Reaction Unit from the Urabá Coast Guard Station stopped a suspicious vessel that was navigating through the waters of the Gulf of Urabá. Until last April, the immigration authorities of Panama had counted 3,855 Chinese citizens who crossed through the Darién.

The vessel was not authorized, nor did it have the minimum safety conditions to navigate the sea, for which reason it was towed by the uniformed officers to the dock of the Urabá Coast Guard Station.

The appearance of Asian immigrants through the Darién pass in Panama to reach the southern United States has been of public interest due to the intercontinental distance that these people must cross to start the journey through the jungle.

According to the Reuters news agency, the decision to travel to that region of the American continent to travel to the United States is due to the difficulty of obtaining visas and the economic consequences of the COVID-19 trade blockades in China.