The Labor Affairs, Environment and Indigenous Peoples commissions of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (PARLATINO) met in Panama to address the issue of irregular migration and its impacts in the region with experts from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Mexican Senator Ricardo Velázquez Meza, Secretary of PARLATINO Commissions, reported that the proposals of each of the member countries on a relevant issue such as irregular migration were heard, for which reason the organization will be working on the preparation of a bill model in the matter.
“An important irregular movement of migrants persists and has worsened in the region; vulnerable to terrible threats to their lives and well-being,” the parliamentarian said.
Ezequiel Texidó of the IOM highlighted that the migratory flow has increased in the jungle zone of the border between Panama and Colombia and in the southern United States with Mexico.
He indicated that among the migrants are men and women who have been workers in their countries of origin, children and young people, indigenous populations, displaced by natural disasters, among others.
The IOM highlights that crossings through the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama soared in 2021 to an all-time high (almost 134,000) compared to the past decade (almost 118,000), predominantly by Haitians and Cubans and the children of Haitians.
In 2022, irregular entries into Panama through this dangerous stretch of jungle continued, but with Venezuelan refugees and migrants, who represent the majority this year, who then tend to transit through Central America to the north. Other current routes include Caribbean migrants moving directly through Central American countries like Nicaragua and Honduras.
