Judith Pena | January 21, 2023
In less than a month, a total of 14,235 irregular migrants have transited through Panama through the Darien jungle and bound for the United States, as revealed by the Minister of Public Security, Juan Manuel Pino, during a work tour in the Province.
Pino visited the community of Bajo Chiquito where there are currently 1,016 irregular migrants. “In the last three days, more than a thousand migrants entered, mostly Haitians,” said the minister.
Like the most recent statements given to Radio Panama, the deputy director of the National Migration Service, María Isabel Sarabia, Pino assured that the presence of Haitians and Ecuadorians has increased.
He stressed that the data from Migration and the National Border Service indicate that Haitian (6,459), Ecuadorian (3,031) and Brazilian (562) migrants are the main nationalities that have transited through Panama this year.
For his part, Gozaine, who was also on the tour, indicated that the Panamanian State, with the support of international organizations, has achieved that, through humanitarian flights, more than 6,000 Venezuelan migrants have returned to their country.
Meanwhile, the director of Senafront, Oriel Ortega, pointed out that security has been strengthened in these border areas to prevent migrants from being victims of criminal groups.
“Last year we apprehended 154 people between foreigners and Panamanians linked to the crime of robbery, theft and rape against migrants, of these 142 are in preventive detention and 7 people convicted of robbery and assault against migrants,” Ortega reported.
During 2022, a total of 248,283 irregular migrants crossed the Darién jungle, with Venezuela being the main nationality.
