Attachments
Highlights
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Between January and February of 2023, the Migration Services registered 9,656 children of a total of 45,727 people that transited through Darien, the number of children in transit increased seven-fold compared to the 1,378 children that transited in January and February 2022.
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In 2022, 40,438 children (50% under 5 years old) and more than 570 pregnant women transited through the Darien Gap, the jungle between Colombia and Panama, representing the highest yearly figure on record. In total, 248,284 migrants transited in 2022, including children.
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1,067 unaccompanied and separated children were registered in 2022, which is five times higher than the number registered in 2021 (202 cases). Unaccompanied adolescents from Venezuela and Ecuador made up 70% of the total.
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Between the 1st to 10th of March, more than 6,500 migrants remained temporarily stranded at the Temporary Migrant Reception Stations (TMRS) in Darien, waiting to access the transport service, which exceeded the shelter capacity by 600%. Essential services were oversaturated and insufficient, and there was an increase in the exposure of women and children to the risk of violence, sexual exploitation, and abuse.
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With the funding support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations and the US Government, UNICEF is increasing its presence and provision of services at different points along the migration route. UNICEF has scaled up its response to provide lifesaving services in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), child protection, case management, mother-child health, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at the TMRS in the Provinces of Darien and Chiriquí. UNICEF maintains protection through presence actions on a daily basis.
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UNICEF is supporting 12 host communities affected by migration through the building the protective environments for local children and access to safe drinking water.
Situation Overview
According to the Migration Services in 2022, 248,284 people transited through the dangerous Darién jungle, of which 40,438 are children and adolescents, accounting for 16% of the total population and representing the highest yearly figure on record. Last year, people of 70 nationalities transited, with Venezuela representing 60% of the total, followed by Ecuador (12%), Haiti (9%), Cuba (2%), Colombia (2%), and India (1%).
In October 2022, the U.S. Government announcement of the new parole program for Venezuelans significantly impacted the transit of people through the Darien Jungle causing more than 6,500 migrants to be stuck in Panama waiting for return flights to their country of origin. This caused a 90% reduction in the controlled flow of Venezuelans. On January 6th, the parole program was extended to Haitian, Nicaraguan and Cuban nationals.
At the end of 2022, 1,067 unaccompanied and/or separated children and adolescents of more than 26 nationalities were registered transiting through the Darien; 49% were Venezuelan and 22% Ecuadorian, as well as 75 cases from the continent of Africa and 25 cases from different countries in Asia. Children from 0 to 5 years made up 14% of the cases, followed by children from 6 to 12 years (23%), and adolescents from 13 to 17 years old (56%). 7% of the cases had missing information; the number of unaccompanied and/or separated children in 2022 was five-fold the number in 2021 (202 cases). In addition, 25 cases of sexual violence on the route against girls and female adolescents were registered, and 6 cases of stateless children. The unprecedented increase in migration through the indigenous communities on the route resulted in changes in traditional livelihoods, towards an economy based on providing of services for the population on the move. Particularly for children, it means irregular school attendance or school dropout (exacerbated by the years lost in education due to COVID19), exposure to child labor and the loss of recreational spaces for the use of migrants as shelter.
Between January and February 2023, 45,727 people transited the Colombia-Panama border, including 9,656 children and adolescents (110 of them traveling alone) and at least 200 pregnant women. This year, people from Haiti, Ecuador and Venezuela represent 77% of the migrants in transit through the inhospitable Darien Gap, followed by nationals of Cuba, Colombia, Afghanistan and China. Most of the families are Haitians with children born in Chile, Brazil and Guyana, as well as Ecuadorian families from peri-urban areas of the capital cities and border areas, and Venezuelan families coming from Ecuador, Peru, Colombia and directly from Venezuela, all in search of better opportunities for their children in the United States or Canada. Young adults from Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and India, among other nationalities, transit in search of protection and/or as economic migrants to North America. Particularly, for the Chinese population, the impact of the COVID19 measures limiting work and living opportunities is a mayor driver for migrating towards North America.
The transit route of Acandí (COL) - Bajo Chiquito (PAN) - Lajas Blancas (PAN) is used by 90% of people. The route Capurganá (COL) - Canaán Membrillo (PAN) - San Vicente (PAN) receives the remaining 10%, mostly used by extracontinental migrants. The routes through the communities of Canaán (PA) - Zapallal (PAN) and Turbo (COL) – Púcuro (PAN) – Paya (PAN) in Panama are used sporadically. In the months of January and February 2023 (summer season), between 900 and 1,300 people with critical humanitarian needs arrived daily to the host communities and subsequently to the Temporary Migratory Reception Stations (TMRS) in the Province of Darien. This increase exceeds the already limited capacities of infrastructure and services offered by the Panamanian State, generating overcrowding, lack of protection, lack of food in host communities, and difficulty in the timely provision of health services, particularly in cases of sexual violence, which is added to the lack of economic resources to continue their journey, generating stress and discontent among migrants.
The difficult transit through the Darien, one of the most dangerous migratory routes in the world, is aggravated by events of assault, homicides, drowning, aggression, physical and sexual violence, and family separation. When children arrive at the TMRS in Darien, they require psychosocial support and medical attention to treat gastrointestinal illnesses (diarrhea, vomiting), fever, skin diseases, wounds and dehydration; 23 cases of malnutrition have been identified and referred to the Ministry of Health in the first two months of the year.
At the TMRS of Los Planes de Gualaca in the Province of Chiriquí, on the border with Costa Rica, people arrive from Darien to quickly continue their transit to North America. Small groups of Venezuelan migrants who were impacted by the parole measures, or Haitians affected by the social crisis in their country of origin remain in the area. National child protection authorities have reported that migrant families with limited financial resources are resorting to informally selling goods or begging in the streets of David (Capital City in the provinces of Chiriquí) – which is prohibited by Panamanian law – raising concerns about the exposure of children to vulnerable situations. National authorities have identified an increase in cases of gender-based violence, including sexual violence and human trafficking, especially of local girls and adolescents under the age of 18 in the Province of Chiriquí.
On February 15, 2023, the most tragic bus accident in the history of Panama occurred when it transited 66 migrants including 10 girls and 9 boys from Cuba, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Nigeria, Haiti, Brazil, Cameroon and Eritrea. The accident occurred a few meters from the TMRS of Planes de Gualaca leaving 42 dead (including 4 children) and 24 survivors (including 5 girls, 4 boys, 1 female adolescent and 5 male adolescents). The national authorities with support from international humanitarian organizations attended the situation. Additionally, on 25 of February, a bus carrying 57 migrants caught on fire, no one was affected, and no casualties were reported. This situation led to a temporary suspension of the transit of buses to the border with Costa Rica as mechanical revision of all buses was required by the authorities to guarantee safe conditions for the mobility of migrants.
Due to the temporary suspension, between March 1 and 10, up to 6,500 migrants remained temporarily stranded at the TMRS of Lajas Blancas and San Vicente in Darien and host communities, exceeding the shelter capacity by 600%. Basic services were oversaturated and insufficient, and there isan increase in the exposure of women and children to the risk of violence, sexual exploitation and abuse. The influx of more than 1,300 people per day to the host communities of Bajo Chiquito and Canaán Membrillo, limits the government’s efforts to provide assistance and guarantee an orderly flow.
The seven-fold increase in the number of children and adolescent on the move in the first two months of 2023 (9,656 children), compared to the same period in 2022 (1,378 children), indicates a vertiginous growth in the number of people moving along this route. Extracontinental flows are expected to continue, as well as flows from South America, especially Haitian, Ecuadorian and Venezuelan populations. The increasing number of unaccompanied adolescents in transit indicates mayor challenges in the guarantee of rights in countries of origin, transit and destination.