The Haitian diaspora that has swept through Latin America for a decade has turned into a regional humanitarian crisis. More than 100,000 migrants have already crossed the Darien jungle, the inhospitable border between Colombia and Panama, so far this year, on their way to North America. Its main destination is the United States, but also Canada and now Mexico. Since July, this flow has often been dammed in the Colombian municipality of Necoclí, turned into a funnel into which more than a thousand daily migrants arrive willing to enter the isthmus. “It is not a problem that only one country will be able to solve,” says the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Panama, Erika Mouynes, who calls for cooperation to address a phenomenon of alarming dimensions.
Both Colombia and Panama are transit countries for Haitian migrants, who do not arrive from the Caribbean nation but from the south of the continent, mainly from Brazil and Chile, where many fled after the 2010 earthquake. On their journey through the Darien, considered one of the most dangerous routes in the world, they are accompanied to a lesser extent by Cubans, Asians and Africans. Not all make it. At least fifty people have lost their lives trying to cross, many killed by armed groups that assault them on the route, drowned in the flooding of the rivers or by falls on the steep hills of that jungle area.
“The route of this migration is 12 countries, the only one that has several stations to receive migration is Panama, the only one that feeds them,” says Mouynes in a video call interview with EL PAÍS from his office in Panama City. “Infrastructure needs cannot be solved immediately, but what can, at least, is to control the flow. No one can handle uncontrolled migration. Maintaining a humanitarian approach, if you don’t have some level of control, is absolutely unthinkable, “he says.
Question. The Darien Gap was considered such a dangerous passage that until not so long ago the numbers of migrants who tried to cross it were comparatively lower, how do you explain that one hundred thousand people have tried to cross it so far this year?
Answer. Not that they’ve tried, they’ve already crossed. There have been structural compelling reasons in some South American countries where visa requirements or work permits have changed, coupled with a wrong, ill-intentioned message that tells them [a los migrantes] they have 18 months to arrive in the United States. So, the mix of these decisions by some South American countries about tightening work permits, etc., has caused this massive movement, beyond the borders that were opened to this much greater flow than previously seen. The truth is that this migratory phenomenon is not new, it has been in the past 12 years. We have had horrible peaks in 2015, 2016, with very high numbers as well.
P. We are facing an unprecedented displacement in the region. What are the figures that Panama handles?
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R. We are the ones who serve them and count them. Not that they have tried, 105,000 people have already crossed through Panama. Last year they crossed 8,000. In 2019, without a pandemic, which was a high year, there were 20,000. And we have not finished the year. We have also identified many more migrants still in Brazil, in Ecuador, in Chile who may be enthusiastic about generating this movement. The migration we are seeing is not new migration, many of those who have passed through Panama have been in South America for ten years. They have many years, children who were born in South America.
We have not yet seen the new migration. The greatest mobilization, particularly in Haiti, occurred when there was the 2010 earthquake. The earthquake that just happened was even more complicated, so we must assume that there is going to be a second migration, which we have not seen yet. This has to become a priority for everyone, and we have to find a solution together. It is not a problem that only one country will be able to solve. No country has the capacity, the management or the infrastructure to be able to solve it.
P. The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office confirmed this week a new sinking of migrants, an illegal boat that left Necoclí and intended to take them to San Blas, in Panama. The Ombudsman assures that an emergency plan is needed that considers additional measures such as the creation of a humanitarian bridge that facilitates the transit of children, adolescents, pregnant women and nursing mothers without having to expose their lives. What does it take to open a humanitarian corridor?
R. We are receiving migrants well above the established quota, we had agreed to 600 and they spend more than a thousand a day. Instead of passing migrants, Colombia could choose those vulnerable populations. The border of Panama and Colombia is not designed for any type of transit or migration, it is a very dense jungle. Malnourished children come to us here that we have to take care of, many times they are not accompanied by adults or relatives. Instead of trying to find immediate solutions, we must understand that this is a structural problem, we all have to prepare better. In the south of Colombia there is an important situation that also needs to be addressed. This will continue to occur as long as we do not address the original situation.
P. How to avoid this damming of the flow of migrants on the border between Colombia and Panama?
R. We cannot define what measures Colombia can take. But in size and geographic dimension we are much smaller, and we have dedicated State resources to generate this attention and provide humanitarian support. We believe that the 12 countries have to do this, better prepare to be able to deal with this situation and understand that it will not disappear overnight. We have to look for coordinated and consensual solutions, because if this wave continues to be generated, whether they are represented in Colombia, Panama or Costa Rica, it will continue to be the same problem.
P. It is an impenetrable jungle, do you have any idea how many migrants may have been left on the road?
R. We cannot know, it is 200 kilometers of jungle. That is why we have asked for collaboration and the exchange of information.
P. President Laurentino Cortizo appealed to the international community last month in his speech to the UN General Assembly. What is Panama asking specifically?
R. Make it a shared responsibility, that this issue becomes a priority for the 12 countries. To return to sit at the table and talk for a consensual response. We all also have to support with resources.
P. The majority are Haitian migrants, and a good part comes from Brazil and Chile. What do you ask of those governments?
R. All the governments involved, including those of Brazil and Chile, participated in the August ministerial meeting. I think the roadmap is outlined on what each one has to do with regard to visas, immigration policies, and so on. Rather than saying something specific to a government, it is sitting at the table and each one establishing their responsibility.
P. And what would be the United States as the main destination country?
R. Canada is also a destination country, and Mexico is also becoming part of a destination country, we have to say everything as we have identified it. We all have to be involved in this table of continuous dialogue. We had been talking for months about this migration that was going to take place, which did indeed come at the end. But they have not really seen the numbers that are going to arrive yet, they are not yet in the United States, they are not yet in Mexico, they are moving forward because it is a slow transit being on foot. But they will come.
P. What can the flow of migrants be at the end of this year?
R. I think we are going to exceed 150,000, which is a really worrying number. Before, when the rainy months began, migration decreased, because in the jungle it becomes very complicated, but this year we have not seen those numbers decrease.
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