A boat with migrants throw away on the Caribbean coast ofPanama, face the inhospitable Darien Jungle, The Panamanian Border Police reported on Wednesday, February 14, that there were an unspecified number of deaths.
The shipwreck occurred early in the morning near the Carreto Bay,a remote town on the Atlantic coast Darien, in an area inhabited by the Guna Yala ethnic group, pointed out National Border Service (Senafront, border police).
“Today (Wednesday, February 14), in the early hours of the morning, information was received about the discovery of bodies of lifeless migrants through hiding,” Senafront said in a statement. He did not provide any information on the number of victims, but added that he had sent search patrols to the area where the shipwreck occurred.
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The Panama Canal TVN stated on the authorities.
“We currently have no information about the survivors or their nationality; they are currently deployed,” a Senafront spokeswoman told AFP.
“We also don’t know exactly how many were on that boat because it is an illegal operation, human trafficking, which is a crime,” he added.
The Commissioner of @senafrontpanamaRubén Moreno, speaks about the shipwreck that left four dead and eight missing in the border waters between Panama and Colombia.#RPRadio pic.twitter.com/S7pSoanYmQ
— Rpc Radio (@rpc_radio) February 14, 2024
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Panama, a transit country
PanamaIt is a transit country for thousands of migrants from South America, mainly of Venezuelan nationality, traveling to the United States. The vast majority enter the country by crossing the inhospitable Darién jungle on foot from Colombia and then continuing through the rest of Central America and Mexico.
“Search patrols have been deployed and coordination is being carried out with the authorities of the Public Ministry (Prosecution Service) and the Immigration Department to recover the bodies, rescue survivors and pursue the smugglers,” he said. Senafront, without specifying where the ship came from.
The Panamanian authorities are already in the area of the shipwreck. Photo: @TReporta/Twitter
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He added that the area of the shipwreck near the border with Colombia “is very complex to navigate due to the strong waves caused by currents and winds.”
A record of more than half a million migrants entering the countryPanamain 2023 through the Darién jungle. According to Panama's official figures, there were around 120,000 minors among them.
Migrants take between three and six days to cross the natural border between Colombia and ColombiaPanama, 266 km long and 575,000 hectares in size, where they are exposed to natural hazards but also criminal gangs.
Last November, the organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced that it had attended to more than 400 cases of migrants who had been victims of sexual rape in the jungle; 97% women, some of them girls.
Many migrants trying to get to the United States must pass through the Darien jungle and then cross the Rio Grande. Photo: The New York Times
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The year 2023 ended with the arrival of 520,085 migrantsPanamaafter crossing the Darién, according to the Panamanian Ministry of Security.
According to the ministry, Venezuelans topped the list of those who crossed the dangerous jungle with 328,667 people, followed by 57,222 Ecuadorians, 46,558 Haitians and 25,344 Chinese.
A year ago, 40 migrants died therePanamaand twenty were injured after the bus that transported them from the airport Darien He got off the road towards the border with Costa Rica. The Panamanian driver was also killed.