The presidents of Panama, Laurentino Cortizo, and Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, traveled to the Darién region on October 6 to jointly address the migration crisis. And although the two leaders are committed to controlled and safe migration, their strategy would first have to confront the illegal corporations that control passage through this jungle and that have also created a financial system for migration.
During this meeting, and with clear sympathy for the immigration policies of the United States, the President of Costa Rica advocated that the “sending” and “transit” countries of migrants ensure that people emigrate “in a legal, orderly and humanitarian manner.” . In the same vein, his Panamanian counterpart added that the countries would urgently agree on these measures and thus avoid “the inhumane way of the cross” through the Darién. “Let’s not wait until they reach the Texas border, let’s do it sooner,” he said pointedly.
However, the testimonies collected by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the NGO Doctors Without Borders contradict the US strategy.
Violence, danger and debt
Slipping off cliffs, drowning, being kidnapped by criminals, witnessing a rape, and feeling a sense of helplessness in the face of threats from criminals are some of the testimonies collected by the IOM and Doctors Without Borders.
In addition to these dangers, Xavier Castellanos Mosquera, Undersecretary of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, assures that the migrants crossing El Darién suffer physically from the extreme environmental conditions. “Their skin is completely eaten away by mosquitoes and jungle animals,” he said.
“In the Darién case, there is something much more serious that hardly anyone wants to mention,” warned Castellanos Mosquera. “
There are “commercial banks willing to lend to communities to tackle the migration route.” Families are going into debt to make arrangements with coyotes. “This needs to be found out,” he emphasized.
According to the testimonies collected, upon arrival in Colombia there are illegal organizations that enforce the rules of the crossing. “One pays, one goes,” one of them said. “They kidnap you until you pay,” one woman said.
The guides who decided to fly over areas such as Río Tres Bocas, Canaán Membrillo and Bajo Chiquito, communities used by migrants on their route through the Darién jungle, were unable to verify the reports.
Mexico convened the region’s heads of state for a meeting on October 22 with the aim of achieving “effective results in the short and long term” in this migration crisis.
According to the Panamanian Ministry of Security, the Darién has become a huge migrant crossing, with more than 400,000 people crossing by the end of September. The majority are Venezuelans (more than 265,000), Ecuadorians and Haitians, but there are also Asians and Africans.
After crossing this inhospitable 166-mile-long jungle, travelers attempt to reach the United States via Central America and Mexico.