Published: Less than 50 min ago
The jungle between Colombia and Panama is one of the world’s most dangerous places. Even so, a quarter of a million people passed through it last year. Now the United States, Panama and Colombia will prevent migrants and refugees from crossing the Darién Gap.
The three countries announced a 60-day effort to stop illegal immigration through the notorious gap, the dangerous route taken by hundreds of thousands of migrants each year. In the first three months of the year alone, 90,000 have ventured into the wild, lawless jungle.
The migrants must make their way through approximately 100 kilometers filled with poisonous snakes and insects, treacherous rivers, bandits and smugglers. For most, the US is the final destination.
Exactly how the migrants will be stopped is unclear, but the countries must offer “legal and flexible routes for tens of thousands of migrants and refugees”, according to a joint statement.
According to the plan, part of the investment should be poverty alleviation and job creation measures in the border area between Panama and Colombia, presumably to get people to find other livelihoods than smuggling migrants