Panama Deported 147 Migrants to Their Home Countries in August

The National Migration Service reported that Panama deported 147 people in August as per agreement with the United States with most of them being Colombian.  28 Colombian citizens were sent home Friday August 30.  26 were deported for evading checkpoints and 2 were expelled for serving a sentence for drug trafficking.  It should be noted that this deportation and repatriation plan is part of an agreement between the governments of Panama and the United States to curb the irregular migratory flow of people, whose main objective is to reach US territory.  Under this agreement, financed by the US government, four flights have been made as of Friday: three to Colombia and one to Ecuador.  Thursday August 29, 30 Ecuadorians were deported after entering the country illegally after crossing the Darien jungle from Colombia.  It is worth mentioning that Panama carried out a deportation on its own and it was on August 7 when 30 Colombians were deported.  According to Panamanian authorities, some 90 nationals have entered the country irregularly through the Darién, the majority of whom were Venezuelans.  The Panamanian government plans to deport 70 irregular migrants from India on September 3.  According to data from the National Migration Service, some 230,000 people have entered the Darien jungle this year.