Officials from the National Migration Service and the National Border Service (Senafront) would have offered transportation to girls and women from the migratory groups received in Panama in exchange for sexual favors. Migrants who arrived in the Central American country after crossing the Darién were detained in Migrant Reception Stations, where they were deprived of liberty except to continue their journeys north
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have crossed the so-called “Darién Gap” in recent years, with a large percentage of Venezuelans in this group, to reach Panama in the hope of continuing on their way to the United States. In the Central American country they would have suffered abuses by the authorities, according to a report from the United Nations (UN) sent to the government of Panama.
The report was leaked to the Spanish newspaper The countrywhich revealed the content of the 18-page document that details how Panamanian government authorities would have sexually abused migrants in the Migrant Reception Stations (ERM).
The note posted by The country reveals some fragments of the report, prepared from a compilation of complaints against the National Migration Service and the National Border Service (Senafront).
“According to these complaints, SNM and Senafront personnel would have requested sexual exchanges from the women and girls housed in the San Vicente ERM who lack the money to cover transportation costs to Costa Rica,” details the publication made by the Office of the Special Rapporteur. on the Human Rights of Migrants.
The officials promised, in exchange for sexual favors, to coordinate transportation with the Panamanian authorities so that the migrants could continue their journey to the border with Costa Rica.
The UN also denounced that many migrants were forced to pay for their trips with forced labor in the same reception stations to collect the 40 dollars necessary for the passage to Costa Rica.
“This information would be accompanied by concerns about the voluntariness of the work carried out, given the supposed lack of alternatives that allow migrants to leave the MREs,” the document highlights.
Due to these situations and the complaints received by the international organization, the document forcefully criticizes Panama for the way in which the massive reception of migrants traveling through the Darién jungle was managed.
The migrants who were received by the Panamanian authorities in the MREs were deprived of their liberty, since they could not leave these centers without authorization, other than to be transferred to the border with Costa Rica.
The report, prepared by the team of the special rapporteur for the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, reports cases of families “held for more than three months” in these stations for lack of documents such as birth certificates.
“People seeking asylum in Panama would also not be allowed to leave the MREs until the end of the procedure, which reportedly can take several months,” the document stresses, later expressing concern about the arbitrary detention of children.
On the other hand, they point out the conditions of these reception centers, in which a separation of spaces for women or children is not established, with which “their safety or protection is not guaranteed” and multiplies the risks that these populations suffer gender-based violence.
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