2024-07-26 21:34:00
Ten migrants lost their lives due to the growth of a río in an isolated region of Panama near the Caribbean coast and the border with Colombia, border police said.
In a statement, the National Border Service (Senafrot) reported that 10 bodies of migrants, whose nationality is still unknown, were found in the areas “close to the community of Carreto, in the indigenous region of Guna Yala.” The migrants died drowned due to a sudden rise in the river, known as a “head of water”.
In addition to climatic causes, Senafrot added that the transnational organized crime, Through local collaborators in these coastal communities, they put the lives of migrants at “serious risk.”
Authorities did not detail whether the victims crossed the Darien junglea corridor for those trying to reach the United States, even if they arrived by boat.
In 2023, more than half a million of people, mostly Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, Colombians, Haitians and Chinese, crossed this jungle, despite the risks such as fast-flowing rivers, wild fauna and criminal groups that rob, rape and murder.
Over the past few weeks, the Panamanian government hill different paths, which migrants used in the jungle. However, the State enabled a “humanitarian corridor” for manage the migratory flow and protect people from criminal gangs.
The corridor also seeks to ensure that displaced people reach a shelter where they receive care from international organizations such as the Red Cross, UNICEF and UNHCR.
To address and reduce the migratory flow, Panama and the US agreed on an agreement, where Washington agrees to finance with Six million dollars for deportation and expulsion of people who cross the Darien from Panamanian territory.
Marlen Piñeiro, regional attaché for Homeland Security of the United States, warned that the beginning of “deportations and expulsions” on charter and commercial flights is “imminent”.
“We have already visited all the airports (…), we have visited Darien, and we have spoken with the airlines and contractors, and we are in the final details,” he added.
However, José Raúl Mulino, president of Panama, rejected “forced” repatriation of migrants. “People do not want to come and stay in Panama, people want to go to the United States, and if that issue becomes a situation for us, it may happen to a lesser or greater degree, then they will go there,” said Mulino.
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2024-07-26 21:34:00