Panama president  calls for "real US support” for the migration crisis

President, Laurentino Cortizo, requested “real support” from the United States to address the current migration crisis, an issue that, he stressed, is not the responsibility of Panama alone.

Cortizo said this help goes beyond providing shelter, food and health services. He emphasized that these irregular migrants want to be repatriated and that requires resources and “concrete actions.”

He added that they hope to work on this matter with the new US ambassador to Panama, Mari Carmen Aponte, who will arrive in the country in the middle of this month.

He reiterated that the number of Venezuelans in the country has decreased considerably, but not that of Ecuadorians, Haitians and transcontinentals.

 In recent weeks, Panama has reported a substantial drop in the flow of Venezuelan migrants after the United States announced that any Venezuelan national who enters that country having irregularly crossed the border with Mexico will be expelled to Mexican territory.

The route is to the United States, is not just a Panamanian issue ” Cortizo emphasized.

The director of the National Immigration Service, Samira Gozaine, said that “we need countries to understand that there is co-responsibility.”

The official said that help has been requested from both the United States and other international organizations, but that “almost no help from them” has been received. “What we need most are repatriation expenses as these people want to go back to their homes,” Gozaine said.

More than 210,000 irregular migrants in transit to the United States have entered Panama through the Darién jungle so far this year, according to official figures.