Posts published in “World”

by Marielbis Rojas

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino announced this Thursday the gradual closure of the migration centers that have formed part of the Darien Gap route, a jungle area through which more than one million migrants have crossed since 2016.

Mulino stated that the flow of people heading to the United States has decreased by 98%. The mass deportations ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump have deterred many immigrants, who even make the return journey to their countries through this same border crossing, according to EL PAÍS.

“We will not allow any more migrants in that area of ​​Darién, and we have concluded an operation that began in 2016… I am very pleased to have complied and closed the Darién, given what this means for regional and Panamanian security,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference.

The Panamanian president explained that these were the Bajo Chiquito and Canaan Membrillo centers, where the country’s authorities, along with nearly twenty United Nations and NGO agencies, were caring for migrants as they left the dangerous Darien jungle, the natural border with Colombia.

At these centers, migrants received food and medical services, and their biometric data was collected. Panamanian authorities have estimated the cost of this operation at more than $50 million.

“A year ago, we had 36,841 migrants crossing through Darién; today, in March, we reached 112. A significant decrease, which represents a 97-98% success rate for immigration authorities and the National Border Service ( Senafront ),” Mulino explained.

The migration operation in Darién began in 2016, when the first crisis occurred with the passage of 30,055 Cubans headed to the United States, according to the Panamanian National Immigration Service.

In 2021, the numbers exploded, with 133,726 irregular migrants arriving in the Panamanian jungle province; in 2022, there were 248,284, and in 2023, 520,000 were recorded.

By 2024, the flow had fallen to 300,000 migrants, attributed to the closure of jungle roads by the Mulino government and fears of a tougher U.S. immigration policy if Donald Trump won the election.

The migration crisis through Darién in recent years was led by Venezuelans, who accounted for more than 85% of the flow through the jungle.

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Marielbis Rojas is a Venezuelan journalist and communications professional with a degree in Social Communication from UCAB. She is a news reporter for ADN América.
Photo “José Raúl Mulino” by José Raúl Mulino.

The post Panama Closes Immigration Centers in Darien After 98 Percent Drop in Northbound Migration first appeared on The Ohio Star.