By Deutsche Welle
Aug 30, 2024, 01:06 AM EDT
The first deportation flight for Ecuadorian irregular migrants who crossed the Darien jungle, financed by the United States within the framework of an agreement with Panama, left the Panamanian capital on Thursday bound for the Ecuadorian city of Manta.
The flight with 30 Ecuadorian citizens departed from Marcos A. Gelabert Airport, on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal, bound for the port city of Manta, an official source said.
The migrants were handcuffed
The Ecuadorian migrants, an undetermined number of whom had criminal records and others with irregular immigration status, according to the source, arrived handcuffed at the airport and boarded the aircraft at 19:35 local time (00:35 GMT) after a document check.
Of these citizens, including three women, 28 were deported and two expelled, while among these migrants there are also 9 “high profile” ones linked to cases of homicide, drug trafficking, illicit association, organized crime, micro-trafficking and gang activity, said the acting director of the National Migration Service (SNM), Erly Estela Miranda.
On August 20, the first of these flights, paid for by the United States, as established by the bilateral agreement signed on July 1, left Panama bound for Medellín with thirty Colombian migrants who were deported.
More Colombian migrants will be deported
Four days later, on Saturday, August 24, another group of about 30 Colombians with irregular immigration status were sent back to their country by Panamanian authorities, and another flight with migrants of this nationality is scheduled to depart on August 30.
Panama and the United States signed an agreement to return migrants who cross the Darien, the jungle bordering Colombia that is experiencing a crisis due to the migratory flow, which in 2023 reached 520,000 people, an unprecedented figure.
According to this agreement, the passers-by will be returned under the figure of repatriation or deportation “both those with criminal records and those who enter the country illegally, which are all those who enter through Darién.”
The agreement involves US support valued at six million dollars.
This week, Cuba received a group of 48 migrants deported from the United States, bringing the total number of Cubans returned so far in 2024 to 1,030, according to official media reports. Of the 48 migrants, 43 were men and 5 were women.
In June, 17,563 Cubans arrived in the United States, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP).
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