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Panama’s border police (Senafront) reported on Wednesday that 10 migrants had died in a swollen river in a remote area of Panama’s Caribbean coast near the border with Colombia. “The bodies of 10 migrants who drowned due to flash flooding (swollen river water) were found in a tributary of the river near the community of Carreto (in the indigenous region of Gunayala),” the Senafront said in a statement.
“Transnational organized crime groups, through local collaborators in these Caribbean coastal communities, persist in using unauthorized routes, placing the lives of these individuals at serious risk,” the statement added. It did not specify whether the dead had traveled through the Darien jungle, which has become a corridor for migrants trying to reach the United States, or arrived by boat. It also did not specify the victims’ nationalities.
According to official data, more than half a million people crossed the jungle in 2023, despite dangers such as fast-flowing rivers, wild animals and criminal gangs that rob, rape and kill. Immigration in transit The Dariens are Venezuelan, but Ecuadorians, Colombians, Haitians and Chinese also make up the majority. Due to the difficult terrain, the bodies are sometimes eaten by animals, and the Panamanian authorities do not know the exact number of deaths during this journey.
Trail Closures
In recent weeks, the Panamanian government has closed several trails through the jungle and created a “humanitarian corridor” to control migrants and prevent them from being attacked by criminal gangs.
The Panamanian authorities also hope that through this “humanitarian corridor” the migrants will be able to reach safe havens, where they will be cared for by international organizations such as the Red Cross, UNICEF or the UN Refugee Agency. Colombian President Gustavo Petro criticized the closure of the jungle route, claiming that “barbed wire in the jungle” would only lead to “drownings.”
Impending deportation
In an effort to reduce the flow of migrants, Panama and the United States signed an agreement on July 1, with Washington pledging $6 million in deportation funds for migrants crossing the Darien River from the Central American country. Marlen Piñeiro, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s attaché in Panama, warned on Tuesday that deportations via charter and commercial flights were “imminent.”
“We have visited all the airports (…) Visited DarienWe have visited the sites where they will be repatriated, we have spoken with airlines and contractors and we are in the final stages of details,” Pinheiro added. However, last Thursday, Panamanian President José Raul Mulino ruled out the forced repatriation of migrants.
“People don’t want to stay in Panama, they want to go to the United States and if this becomes a problem for us, it could escalate more or less, so they’re going to go there,” said Mulino. During the campaign, he promised to “close” the Darién province, a natural border with Colombia that is 266 kilometers long and covers 575,000 hectares.
Cleaning
Panama’s Environment Minister Juan Carlos Navarro announced on Wednesday that Panama is working with the United States on a plan to clean up the Darien jungle, an area of 575,000 hectares affected by the passage of migrants. Mulino said that each migrant leaves an average of 2.2 kilograms of garbage while passing through the jungle, which is densely vegetated and rich in flora and fauna.
Navarro mourned the deaths of migrants: “Ten more people have lost their lives to illegal and inhumane trafficking through the Darien province. We must restore order to these areas, stop this trafficking as soon as possible, and clean up the natural environment,” Navarro said. According to Navarro, the project includes cleanup, environmental restoration of damaged areas, and “economic support” to local communities.
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