Foreigners Worsen Overcrowding in Panamanian Prisons
There are more than a thousand foreign inmates within the prison system, most of them of Colombian origin.
The country’s penitentiary centers face a complicated situation; their infrastructure has become too small for the number of people who enter the system every day, affecting the quality of life of the detainees. The prison population 10 years ago was 14,000 inmates, a figure that has doubled over time to reach more than 25,000. This comparison, in addition to demonstrating the collapse of these facilities, shows that criminal acts in the country have been increasing. However, Panamanians are not the only ones involved in these illegal activities. Authorities are concerned that a large part of the prison population is made up of foreigners. Citizens who should be returned to their countries of origin to serve their sentences, as they not only contribute to overcrowding, but also become a burden on the justice institutions, and therefore, the State. “Foreign private companies do nothing here, they should be in their own countries,” stressed Ángel Calderón, Secretary General of the Ministry of Government.
