2023-12-17 12:28:30
Crouching in the hot, humid air of his room, Liu (1) meticulously loads his large backpack. The young man, who arrived the day before in Necocli, a small fishing port on the Colombian Caribbean coast, stacks up a jar of sunscreen, mosquito repellent and his headlamp. “I also bought these tablets to purify the waterindicates this 23-year-old Chinese, in uncertain English. This will be useful for the crossing. » The crossing is that of Darien, on the other side of the Gulf of Uraba. Liu tightens the straps, checks the closures of the package. He is ready.
15,000 kilometers separate Darien from Canton, his hometown. Liu is not the only Chinese who wants to cross this region straddling Colombia and Panama, almost as large as Belgium. Between January 1 and November 1, 18,501 Chinese migrants took this extremely dangerous, mountainous and jungle-covered route, compared to 2,005 the previous year, according to Panamanian migration services. This year, the Chinese became the fourth contingent to pass through Darien – the first extra-continental – behind the Venezuelans (294,000), Ecuadorians (51,000) and Haitians (41,500).
“I want to escape the dictatorship”
Liu has only one goal in mind: to join the United States. The young man does not reveal his identity: “If the Chinese authorities manage to identify me, they can attack my family back in China. » He explains that he left his country for political reasons: “I don’t agree with the Chinese government’s control over our lives and it will eventually get me into trouble. I want to join the United States to live freely. »
The restrictions on freedoms, ever more severe since the Covid-19 pandemic, have also convinced Yuzé (1), 52, to abandon his life in Chongqing: “I want to escape the dictatorship. I can no longer stand the repression of the Communist Party. »
Marilou Sarrut, doctoral student in social geography, heard this speech many times when she worked at Necocli: “This migration is explained by an uprising against what they call the dictatorial system. With Covid, some people said to themselves: “I can no longer live in China.” »
The Chinese, who take the Darien route, often enjoy a good economic situation and quality education. Many, like Liu, have been organizing their trip for several months and took advantage of the opening of Chinese borders at the end of 2022 to finally leave the country. “This migration of people with high socio-economic status shows the political failure of the Chinese regime”estimates the researcher.
Between “20,000 and 45,000 dollars” to reach the United States
The road to the United States remains long and expensive. Marilou Sarrut estimates that they pay on average “between 20,000 and 45,000 dollars” i.e. between €18,300 and €41,200, over their entire journey. Difficulties in obtaining a visa from the United States or a neighboring country force Chinese migrants to go through Darien.
Liu takes three plane tickets from his wallet. Departing from China on November 9, the boy first flew to Casablanca, Morocco, before heading to Quito, Ecuador – the only country in the region that does not require a visa – before arriving in Colombia. “You are forced to take detours so as not to attract the attention of the Chinese authorities, specifies the young man. If they have any doubts, they will prevent you from boarding. »
In all, it took Liu fifteen days to reach Necocli. The smugglers now ask him for 800 dollars (732 €) to cross Darien. Once in Panama, 3,500 kilometers will still separate him from the American dream.
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A growing migration
More than 24,000 Chinese arrested in 2022 on American territory from Mexico, according to statistics from federal authorities. That’s more than in the last ten years combined.
Out of a total of 1.3 million people expelled last year in the United States, 100,000 were Chinese.
Typically, Chinese asylum seekers still obtain a residence permit in the United States more easily than other nationalities: this is the case for nearly 67% of them, according to a recent study conducted by Syracuse University
(1) The names of the speakers have been changed for security reasons.
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