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Panama registers record number of migrants crossing treacherous Darien Gap reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - A record 42,000 migrants bound for North America have this year entered Panama by trekking across the perilous jungle area known as the Darien Gap, Panamanian authorities said on Wednesday, warning the numbers are likely to increase as borders open up.
Every year many migrants perish during the gruelling six-day hike across the Darien Gap, a mountainous rainforest wilderness that straddles Colombia and Panama.
Migrants who survive the trek talk of being preyed on by both wild animals and criminal gangs.
The previous record for crossings of the Darien Gap was in 2016, when more than 25,000 migrants, most from Haiti, Cuba and outside Latin America, crossed into Panama, according to Security Minister Juan Pino.
Panama closes border with Colombia over pandemic fears
May 20, 2021 GMT
PANAMA CITY (AP) Panama says it has closed its border with Colombia over concerns about the spread of COVID-19, but it wasn’t clear how it would enforce such a measure in the dense jungle-shrouded Darien region where smugglers operate and thousands of migrants have crossed this year on their journey north.
The move came after Panamanian officials said Colombia had decided to open its border.
“For Panama, that measure puts at the risk the significant advances achieved for all Panamanians to control the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the border security and control of migrant flows,” Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.
by The Associated Press
Last Updated May 20, 2021 at 2:09 pm ADT
PANAMA CITY (AP) Panama says it has closed its border with Colombia over concerns about the spread of COVID-19, but it wasn’t clear how it would enforce such a measure in the dense jungle-shrouded Darien region where smugglers operate and thousands of migrants have crossed this year on their journey north.
The move came after Panamanian officials said Colombia had decided to open its border.
“For Panama, that measure puts at the risk the significant advances achieved for all Panamanians to control the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the border security and control of migrant flows,” Panama’s Foreign Relations Ministry said in a statement late Wednesday.