Panama reports sharp drop in irregular migration through Darien Gap

The Central American state notched a 41 percent diminution successful Darien Gap crossings successful 2024 implicit the erstwhile year.

The fig of migrants and asylum seekers traversing the Darien Gap — the treacherous portion of jungle connecting South and North America — has fallen by astir 41 percent successful the past year.

On Thursday, Panama’s right-wing President Jose Raul Mulino announced the decline, touting it arsenic a occurrence for the country’s efforts to bounds irregular migration.

“We person achieved a 41 percent simplification successful the travel of migrants crossing the Darien jungle,” Raul Mulino told Panama’s Congress successful a speech.

“We enactment each time to guarantee that amerciable migration does not scope [Panama City] oregon the remainder of the country.”

Panama faced pressure to ace down connected irregular migration successful caller years, arsenic the fig of migrants and asylum seekers travelling northbound deed grounds highs.

In fiscal twelvemonth 2023, the United States reported 2.48 cardinal “encounters” with migrants and asylum seekers astatine its confederate borderline with Mexico.

That was a caller high-water people for the US, and it led to a governmental backlash, with migration featuring prominently successful the country’s wide elections successful 2024.

For instance, President-elect Donald Trump — the victor successful the 2024 statesmanlike contention — has pledged to prosecute a “mass deportation” run upon taking bureau connected January 20.

Likewise, successful Panama, 2023 broke records for migrants and asylum seekers navigating the Darien Gap.

An estimated 520,085 radical passed done the perilous jungle, known for its steep terrain, swift rivers and transgression networks.

But successful 2024, Panama’s migration authorities saw a steep driblet successful the fig of radical risking their lives successful the jungle. Some 302,203 crossed the Darien Gap past year.

The US has likewise seen falling numbers astatine its confederate border. In the fiscal twelvemonth 2024, US Customs and Border Protection documented 2.14 cardinal irregular “encounters” with migrants and asylum seekers, down 14 percent.

November unsocial saw the lowest monthly full of irregular borderline crossings successful the 4 years of US President Joe Biden’s term.

But the US has attempted to clamp down connected irregular migration successful caller months. Last year, Biden implemented stiff measures limiting asylum access to those who transverse the US-Mexico borderline extracurricular authoritative channels.

Penalties included a five-year prohibition from the US and imaginable transgression prosecution.

Biden besides threatened to suspend asylum petitions altogether if the mean regular fig of irregular borderline crossings reached 2,500 per day.

Critics warned these measures could violate planetary and US humanitarian law, by limiting the quality of asylum seekers to urgently fly persecution.

But supporters of the caller policies argued they were indispensable to rein successful irregular migration.

The US has besides pushed its allies successful South and Central America to bounds irregular migration northwards.

Panama and the US, for instance, signed an agreement successful July to “close the transition of amerciable migrants” done the Darien Gap, with the US offering to money deportation flights and different logistics.

Approximately 1,548 migrants and asylum seekers person since been repatriated connected US-backed deportation flights from Panama.

The US besides established “Safe Mobility Offices” successful countries similar Costa Rica, Guatemala and Colombia successful an effort to dissuade would-be migrants and asylum seekers from making the unsafe trek to the border.

Mulino revealed successful December that astatine slightest 55 migrants and asylum seekers had died portion navigating the Darien Gap successful 2024, and an estimated 180 children were abandoned.

Given the inhospitable quality of the terrain, immoderate bodies are ne'er reported oregon found.

Critics constituent retired that efforts to stamp retired irregular migration often place the cardinal issues that spur migrants and asylum seekers to marque life-threatening trips successful the archetypal place.

This past year, for instance, an estimated 69 percent of the migrants and asylum seekers documented successful the Darien Gap were from Venezuela.

There, quality rights experts pass of authorities abuses, peculiarly successful the aftermath of a contested statesmanlike race that saw 2,000 arrested and 23 killed successful post-election protests.

Venezuela has besides suffered from economical turmoil that has enactment entree to basal supplies similar nutrient and medicine retired of scope for galore residents. Some 7.7 cardinal radical person fled the country.

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Al Jazeera and quality agencies