“Colombia and Panama can and must do more to protect those rights, as well as those of local communities that have suffered years of state neglect,” said Juanita Goebertus, director of HRW for the Americas.
The report, “Abandoned in the Jungle: Protection and Assistance for Migrants and Asylum Seekers in the Darien Gap,” is the second in a series of HRW documents on the dense jungle that has become a passage for thousands of migrants They seek a better future or flee from violence.
In its visits to the border between Colombia and Panama, HRW has confirmed that efforts to guarantee access to food, water and basic health services are insufficient, which affects the rights of both migrants and local communities that have been marginalized for years and suffer from high rates of poverty and lack of opportunities.
Crimes against migrants in the Darién, including constant cases of sexual violence, “are normally not investigated or punished,” the report states.
More than half a million people crossed the Darién in 2023, including 113,000 minors, and the large number of migrants who crossed that jungle between January and February 2024 points to more than 700,000 this year.
Who crosses the Darien
The difficult journey through this jungle full of dangers, natural and human, is undertaken mainly by Venezuelans, Haitians and Ecuadorians, but also by people from other continents such as Asia and Africa.
More than 1,300 people have reported to Doctors Without Borders (MSF) that they have suffered sexual violence between April 2021 and January 2024, but the real numbers may be even higher. However, between January 2021 and December 2023, the Panamanian Attorney General’s Office reported that it only knew of 285 victims of sexual violence.
Furthermore, “dozens, if not hundreds, of people have lost their lives or have disappeared.” In a case documented by HRW in October 2022, a Venezuelan couple embarked on the trip with their three children and, in the middle of the arduous walk, a stranger offered to take their six-year-old son to speed up the trip, and overtook the cluster.
When they caught up with them the next morning, the man told them that his son had drowned while crossing the river. It took authorities eight days to begin the search and Interpol issued an alert for his disappearance more than a month later. To date, the child remains missing.
Call to attention to Colombia and Panama
The NGO regrets that Colombia “lacks a clear strategy to guarantee the rights of migrants who cross,” which adds to the scarce state presence in the region, leaving them in the hands of armed groups such as the Clan del Golfo paramilitary gang, that in recent years, in addition to drug trafficking, it has become involved in migrant trafficking.
The Panamanian Government applies a controlled flow strategy focused on restricting the movement of these people within Panama and ensuring that they quickly reach Costa Rica, rather than addressing their needs or ensuring that they can apply for refuge.
HRW called on both countries to appoint a senior official or advisor in charge of responding to the humanitarian crisis, who also allows coordination between authorities.
Colombia and Panama also need international help
The document also questions the Government of Panama’s decision to suspend MSF’s work in the country: “Restricting MSF’s work is exactly the opposite of what is needed to address the situation in the Darien Gap,” Goebertus stated in the study.
This is a crisis that requires a broader effort from the entire region, which is why “Latin American and US governments should reverse the measures that are preventing access to shelter and that lead people to cross dangerous places such as the Darien.”
Goebertus concludes that, “Colombia and Panama should not be left alone to face the challenges of the Darien Gap.”
Keep reading:
- More than 60% of the 109,000 migrants who crossed Darién in 2024 are Venezuelans
- No more attention to migrants in the Darién: Doctors Without Borders suspend aid by “order” from Panama
- Panama affirmed that Doctors Without Borders sent incomplete reports of migrants abused in Darién