Panama Offers Flights Paid for by the United States to Returning Migrants
The U.S. has funded nearly $2.7 million in flights and tickets for the return of migrants to their countries of origin by deportation and expulsion flight.
Panama announced this Tuesday that Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan migrants residing in Colombia returning from North America will be able to be included on repatriation flights to these two countries, paid for by the United States. “Within the migration memorandum of understanding that Panama signed with the United States (on July 1), we have also achieved that those individuals, such as Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Venezuelans residing in Colombia, can approach immigration, and we will finance their transfer to those countries through that memorandum,” said Roger Mojica, director of the National Migration Service.
He explained that “if there is anyone interested in that regard, we will include them as part of the memorandum of understanding program, and their transfer will be financed as if it were the flights we are operating, because the flow through Darién has decreased. We still have the funds, and we can take advantage of those opportunities we established with the United States.” “Also, even those coming from the reverse flow, those who are entering through Costa Rica and who want to go to Colombia in order to return, they make an announcement at immigration, and we are happy to process the process to get them back to their countries in an orderly, safe, and regular manner,” explained the immigration director.
So far, only Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Venezuelan migrants residing in Colombia can apply for the return flights, according to official information. On July 1, the same day Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino (2024-2029) took office, the United States and Panama signed a memorandum of understanding to reduce the migratory flow through Darién, the jungle bordering Colombia used daily by migrants who dream of reaching the United States in search of better living conditions. Since then, the U.S. has funded nearly $2.7 million in flights and tickets for the return of migrants to their countries of origin through that agreement, according to information from the U.S. government released last February.
Thus, since the agreement was launched on August 20, more than 40 charter flights have been carried out to more than 14 countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, India, and Vietnam, with 1,729 migrants. In addition to commercial flights to repatriate people from countries such as Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Ghana, and Turkey, according to official data shared by U.S. authorities. On February 2, Mulino proposed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. During his official visit to the country amid tensions over the Panama Canal, he called for closer cooperation on migrant deportations, as both countries maintain that migration agreement. The flow of irregular migrants entering through the dangerous Darien jungle has drastically decreased thanks to anti-immigration policies and return flights paid for by the U.S., and the Panamanian government has even declared it “closed.”
