Migrant flow through Panama surpasses 64,000

Some 64,000 migrants have passed through the border of Panama with Colombia this year most of them Haitians says The Minister of Security, Juan Pino and the number continues to swell with 18,850 entering the country in August en-route to the United States and Canada.

The migratory situation in the region has worsened in the last three months when thousands of people of different nationalities travel through various countries in South America to reach Colombia and then through the jungle of the Panamanian province of Darien. This tour of the inhospitable region can take between seven and nine days.

The migration crisis led the authorities of Panama and Colombia to hold working meetings and join other countries in order to address the situation and ensure adequate and humanitarian treatment of migrants. Other meetings are still pending to carry out actions that are also aimed at combating illegal human trafficking.

Panama and Colombia have agreed to the controlled flow of about 600 migrants per day, until August 31; then it will be 500.

Minister Pino reported that until yesterday 2,400 migrants had been registered in Panama and reiterated that the treatment they are given is humanitarian both at the reception and at the transfer to the border.

According to figures from the Ministry of Security as of Sunday, August 22, in the shelters installed in the Darien province, the rest are located in the shelters in the Chiriquí province.

The migrants begin their journey from countries such as Brazil, Chile and Ecuador.