Panama scored a new migrant record in 2022; most come from Venezuela

Los migrants Those who arrived in Panama, mostly Venezuelans who crossed the dangerous and remote Darien region seeking to reach the United States, reached a new record of 248,283 people, authorities from the Central American nation reported on Sunday.

The number of Venezuelans, whose country is going through a prolonged economic crisis, far exceeded other nationalities and added 150,392 people. Ecuadorians followed, with 29,413 people and Haitians in third place, with 22,454, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security.

They also crossed 5,934 Cubans, 4,997 Colombians, 2,424 citizens of the Dominican Republic and 6,690 from other countries in the Americas, as well as 12,230 Africans, 13,676 Asians, 65 Europeans and eight people from Oceania, according to the data.

The Darien Gapwhich separates Colombia from Panama, is the most impassable and dangerous region in Latin America and marks the beginning of the route of tens of thousands of migrants from South America in their quest to reach the United States.

Once in Panama and after being exposed to violence, sexual abuse, human trafficking and diseases, the migrants receive safe passage from the Government to Chiriquí, a border area with Costa Rica, from where they continue their long journey.

The number of migrants who arrived in Panama in 2022 is equivalent to the total of more than a decade, said the ministry, which detailed that between 2009 and 2021 there were 251,613 people.

At the beginning of December of last year, the United States and Colombia will convene a Latin American conference on migration to adopt measures that guarantee respect for the human rights of those who try to reach the North American country.

While USA It is the destination of thousands of Latin Americans and people from other regions of the world, Colombia has become an obligatory transit country for crossing to Panama through the Darién.