Within two or three months, Panama will begin repatriating irregular migrants to their countries of origin, a process that will be voluntary.
The announcement, this Friday, was made by the director of the National Migration Service (SNM), Roger Mojica, reported a dispatch from the agency Latin Press.
The official told the media that the operations include the acceptance of the illegal traveler and the country from which he comes.
Given this policy, the Isthmus government, through its foreign ministry, hopes to establish rapprochements with Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia, three of the issuing nations.
Mojica clarified that the memorandum signed between Panama and the United States on July 1, which supports these actions with six million dollars, is not only designed for the acquisition of return tickets for migrants.
The bill will also be used for other services and the purchase of equipment that will also help combat organized crime, which is behind the increasing flow of drugs.
Migrant movement decreases
According to official figures cited by the head of the SNM, 213,702 people have entered the Darien jungle heading to the northern country so far this year, nine thousand fewer compared to the same period in 2023.
According to Mojica, the decrease is due to the closure of five unauthorized crossings and increased border controls.
He also stressed that the country is making progress in improving the equipment for biometric controls carried out by agents at border points, which total more than 136,000 in the decade 2013-2023.
Such tests allow the identification of migrants with criminal records, including links to drug trafficking or terrorism.
The director denounced the environmental damage suffered by the forests and rivers of the Darien National Park and pointed out that each migrant leaves an average of five pounds of trash, which, he said, is unacceptable.
Inspections in public places in search of illegal immigrants have resulted in nearly thirty people being deported or expelled for various reasons.
The violations include expired identification documents, evading checkpoints to enter the country, or various crimes.
Costa Rica is studying an agreement
For its part, the Costa Rican government is “considering” signing a migration agreement with the United States, focused on the repatriation of migrants from the Central American nation, similar to the one recently signed by Panama, Costa Rican Foreign Minister Arnoldo André told Reuters on Thursday.
Without giving further details, the authority added that they were waiting for a concept note from the United States government.
Darien, a buffer forest
The dangerous Darien jungle, which separates Panama from Colombia, was the scene of a record number of migrants crossing last year: just over half a million in search of safety and better economic opportunities, mostly in the United States.
On Wednesday, Panamanian authorities announced that at least 4.7 kilometers, where there were five crossings used by migrants in Darien, the natural border between Panama and Colombia, were fenced off by Panamanian border police.
The measure seeks to channel the flow of pedestrians who cross this dangerous jungle on their way to the United States, which is home to all kinds of dangerous animals, some potentially deadly, such as pumas, alligators and poisonous snakes.
Because of its intricate shape, the Darien acts as a natural barrier to road communication between the two subcontinents, as there are no land transport routes, which explains the name “plug.”
Migrants say they pay to cross the jungle with coyotes in groups, who abandon them at some point and who then tend to be victims of violent robberies and sexual assaults in the Panamanian part.
Panama, for its part, says that it is the Clan del Golfo, the main criminal gang in Colombia, that crosses them and profits from it.
Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro last week questioned Panama’s decision and warned that blocking these crossings would only lead to “people drowning at sea.”
