Colombia and Panama seek to solve the migration crisis at the border

Posted:

9 before 2021 14:47 GMT

The two countries agreed last week to restrict the increasing flow of migrants through the Darien Gap on a daily basis into the United States.

The foreign ministries of Panama and Colombia agreed last Friday Restricting the increasing flow of migrants, mostly Cubans and Haitians, cross the daily Darien Gap, which marks the border between the two countries in Latin America, bound for the United States.

The Central American country’s foreign minister, Erica Moines, explained that the aim of this measure was to determine “a number of migrants who can be safely received on the Panamanian side.” quoted by AP. “We don’t want these immigrants to take risks His Colombian counterpart Marta Lucia Ramirez de Rincon said, “It’s drowning, or something. And obviously we don’t want them to go through Darien, as we know there’s a lot of risk.”

They also stated that the two governments would cooperate to prosecute criminal gangs that steal immigrants and smuggle drugs through the region, largely without roads.

Increasing the flow of migration

According to data from the Panamanian authorities, so far this year, About 49,000 people– About 16% of children or young people – crossed this dangerous area, surrounded by forests.

to me I showed Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Panama, during the first quarter of 2021, 7150 immigrants entered its territory irregularly, of whom only 4,403 immigrants last March. In addition, an estimated 10,000 people are waiting in Colombia to enter Panama via the Darien River.

It also threatens the extraordinary increase in the flow of migration in recent months Border towns are overflowing. In the Colombian municipality of Nicocle, on the Caribbean coast, more than 10,000 migrants, from Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela and Africa, are waiting for sea transportation to go to the border with Panama, the director explained last Thursday. From emigrating in Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinosa, ruling out the possibility of their expulsion to their country of origin.

Locals noted that they had never seen so many migrants and local authorities declared a “public disaster” due to water shortages due to additional demand.

Migration crisis on the border between Mexico and the United States.

However, both Panama and Colombia are transit countries for immigrants who go to North American countries. US Border Patrol Agents stop Last June to more than 178,000 migrants along the border with Mexico. The growing number of concerns led to a total of 1,076,242 immigrants detained So far this fiscal year.

Last week, Joe Biden’s government It started a send by plane The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that families from Central America were expelled from the United States to cities within Mexico

International analyst Carlos Martinez believes that the growing flow of immigrants in the Western Hemisphere and the challenges they face are due to the differences between Washington and Latin American countries in this area, which lies in poverty caused by exploitation. of natural resources and people from the region.