At a press conference at the end of the regional meeting on migration, attended by representatives from twenty countries, Pino specified that it is the so-called declaration of intent on migration management and protection of migrants.
The document was signed the day before by the Panamanian security chief and met with US embassy chargé d’affaires Stewart Tuttle.
The agreement includes shared commitments to improve the management of irregular migration, scale up stabilization efforts to benefit host communities and displaced persons, and improve protection for migrants and their access to legal alternatives.
As criticized by popular movements, the text is the result of Foreign Minister Antony Blinken’s controversial stay on the Isthmus; and the Minister of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, who, according to the social organizations, came to draw lines of action at will.
For Blinken, however, the pact reaffirms a mutual commitment to the principle of offering regional responses to address historic migration and refugee flows.
A sort of deal like this was signed by Washington with other Central American states like Costa Rica to strengthen border guards and fight criminal networks dedicated to human trafficking.
For the senior Joe Biden administration official, it’s another step toward the statement on migration management and migrant protection that he hopes will be presented next June at the IX. Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California.
The United States is concerned about the overland transfer of people through the Darien Jungle bordering Colombia into the northern country, which totaled more than 133,000 migrants in 2021.
From January through March of this year, those flows registered 13,425 people, more than half of the 5,622 who did so in the same period of 2021, and could increase if the United States lifts border restrictions with Mexico on May 23 by introducing a Repeal the rule allowing immediate expulsion of migrants, known as Title 42.
At the press conference, Blinken himself called on countries in the hemisphere to work together to strengthen communities that host groups of migrants and refugees.
“The only lasting and sustainable response to irregular migration is to address its root causes, but that takes time and financial resources,” he acknowledged.
In this context, he pointed out that a few months ago, US Vice President Kamala Harris asked the private sector to invest around two billion dollars in Central America in order to advance in the region.
“At the Americas Summit, we will address the drivers of irregular migration, there we will adopt a declaration to take the alliance to another level,” he said.
The second regional meeting on migration, which concluded in Panama – the first took place in Colombia last October – focused behind closed doors on two technical tables on security issues and a second of foreign ministers on community stabilization and post-Covid economic recovery .
They also discussed ways to stop irregular migration flows in alliance with multilateral organizations and financial institutions without knowing of a specific agreement.
When asked by journalists about the results of the forum, the hosting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erika Mouynes, limited herself to commenting on the success of the forum, which was attended by representatives from 22 nations, and then to pointing out the need for the region as a whole to show greater commitment to fighting of the migration phenomenon.
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