Panama hosted this Tuesday morning the Regional Forum called “Disappearances of migrants in Central America and Mexico”, which is organized by the Ombudsman’s Office.
The Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, stated that through this forum, the entity seeks to strengthen cooperation between states, civil society and national human rights institutions on actions to identify remains and access to justice for victims and their families, promote compliance with the recommendations and observations regarding access to justice in cases of death and disappearance, in the context of human mobility issued by the international mechanisms of the United Nations.
“With this forum we also seek that other countries of Central America, the South and the Caribbean can join forces to determine how many people disappear on this long road that they undertake from the countries of origin to the country of destination (like us in Panama) and at country of final destination, which we all know is North America… That Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico, can share information and watch over those people who, as of today’s sun, have spent more than 100,000 per the Darién Gap,” he said.
Regarding the disappearance of migrants, Leblanc indicated that only a sub-registry is handled, but it cannot be determined how many people embarked from Necoclí or from Capurganá to the Darién jungle.
Between deaths and victims of human trafficking
The director of the National Immigration Service, Samira Gozaine, revealed that so far this year more than 100,000 people have passed through Panama and fortunately, no forced disappearances have been recorded.
Regarding deaths, he pointed out that there is a record of five deaths. “Let’s remember that these people die in the jungle and when they don’t notify us, we don’t know the number; we know when a relative notifies us, otherwise there is no human way of knowing,” he said.
Gozaine also mentioned that the security operations carried out by the National Border Service (Senafront) have recovered 365 people who were victims of human trafficking and there are more than 60 detainees for various cases. At the same time, he recalled that these investigations are carried out by the Public Ministry.
Creation of a specialized unit
For his part, the Minister of Public Security, Juan Manuel Pino, explained that the Senafront has confiscated 24 boats that were dedicated to transporting migrants illegally. “These have been prosecuted and the people have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and are of Colombian nationality. The boats have been seized and the process is carried out through the competent authorities,” he specified.
He revealed that this security establishment created a unit, whose name is the Specialized Humanitarian Support Unit in conjunction with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the issue of migrants, highlighting that this unit does not exist in other countries.
Pino clarified to the public that Panama is only a transit country, Panama does not originate migration.
Prosecutors from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic participate in this forum, as well as expert speakers from the region, including Mexico.
The forum is organized by the Council of Human Rights Ombudsmen, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ombudsman’s Office and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
