2024-07-15 07:46:39
The Ombudsman’s Office has undertaken a detailed study through its Human Rights Data Analytics Center and the Delegate for the Rights of the Population in Human Mobility, with the aim of analyzing the implications of the land closure of the Colombian-Panamanian border in the Darien Gap.
This analysis, focused on the violation of human rights, It focuses on the municipalities of Carepa, Necoclí, Arboletes, Turbo, San Juan de Urabá, Apartadó and San Pedro de Urabá in Antioquia, as well as in Acandí and Unguía in Chocó, which make up the Urabá-Darién subregion, home to approximately 480,000 inhabitants according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
The Ombudsman’s prospective analytical model projects that if border closures cause between 10% and 20% of the migrant population to remain in the Urabá-Darién subregionIn a period of six months to one year, the municipalities with the greatest population increase would be San Juan de Urabá, with an increase of 5,713 people (2.9%), Arboletes with 3,400 (2.0%) and San Pedro de Urabá with 3,230 (1.9%).
Violation of the Right to Health
Records from the Ombudsman’s Vision Web System indicate that the right to health is one of the most affected in this region.The prospective analytical model suggests an increase in the spread of diseases and difficulties in the hospital network to treat them. The Urabá-Darién subregion could experience an increase in the rate of congenital syphilis infection by 5.7%, chikungunya and dengue by 5.2%, and leptospirosis by 4.7% per 1,000 inhabitants.
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In addition, a considerable gap has been identified between the number of hospital beds needed according to World Health Organization standards. (WHO) and the number available in the municipalities studied. Turbo, for example, needs 461 beds but only has 100, Apartadó requires 451 and only has 291, and Carepa needs 179 beds but only has 56. This lack of beds becomes critical in the face of possible complications from the aforementioned diseases, which would require hospitalization.
In light of these findings, the Ombudsman’s Office is making an urgent call to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and to municipal health authorities. and departmental authorities to implement preventive measures against the possible increase in diseases due to a massive concentration of migrants. It is crucial that national and local authorities act effectively, establishing migration management tables with a humanitarian approach.
Finally, the Ombudsman’s Office urges the National Government to mediate with the Panamanian authorities to guarantee respect for human rights and international standards on refuge and non-refoulement of migrants, seeking to prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Urabá-Darién subregion.
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