Over 204,000 US-bound migrants cross Darién jungle this year

A total of 204,986 irregular migrants bound for the US have crossed the Darién jungle so far this year, the dangerous border between Colombia and Panama, in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region, according to statistics from Panama authorities provided to EFE on Sunday.

This is an unprecedented figure, much higher than the 133,726 in 2021, which set a record at the time by being higher than all the crossings of the previous decade through the jungle, a risky irregular migration route used for decades by people from all over the world.

According to data from the National Migration Service (SNM) of Panama, of the 204,986 people who crossed the Darién between January 1 and October 22 of this year, 71.8% or 147,203 are Venezuelans. The rest are nationals of some thirty American, African and Asian countries.

Only between October 1 and 22, 53,404 irregular migrants (39,834 Venezuelans) were counted, an unprecedented number that leaves behind the 48,204 in September, the 31,104 in August, the 22,822 in July, the 15,633 in June and the 13,894 in May. It was from last May that there was a jump in the number of irregular travelers crossing the jungle this year: there were 4,702 in January; 4,262 in February, 4,827 in March, and 6,134 in April. In this migratory wave, there are entire families with children and even babies. Many of the Venezuelans and Haitians come from second or third countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, or Brazil, where they had already settled or tried to.

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Panama receives irregular travelers at migratory reception stations (ERM) located on the border with Colombia and Costa Rica, where they take their biometric data and receive food and medical attention.

In the midst of the crisis, more than 2,500 daily arrivals have been recorded lately, a figure that began to drop after the United States announced a new policy for Venezuelan migrants on October 12: everyone who arrives in the country after having irregularly crossed the border of Panama or Mexico will be expelled immediately to Mexican territory.

But this Saturday 1,223 irregular migrants arrived at the Darién shelters, the SNM told EFE on Sunday.

The Foreign Minister of Panama, Janaina Tewaney, said Friday that “three days ago the crossing” of irregular migrants “was 2,665, one day after 1,522 and Thursday 1,213. It seems that the flow was going down”