Just three weeks into José Raúl Molina's presidency and two weeks after signing a landmark deal with the United States, Panama's border police has revealed that migration through the Darien Gap, a dense jungle frontier between Colombia and Panama, has significantly declined in July.
The National Border Service reported that 11,363 migrants crossed the border since the first day of the month, about 9,000 fewer than the same period last year.
Despite this decrease, migration levels remain close to those of 2023, a record-breaking year with over 500,000 migrants, more than half of them Venezuelans, making the journey.
Jorge Gobea, the director general of the National Border Service, attributed the reduction to the installation of about 3 miles of barbed wire on five trails to channel migrants into a "humanitarian corridor":
"We closes more than five clandestine routes which were used by organized crime to mobilize migrants from Colombia to Panama. The intention was to channel this flow, not to interrupt it, but to send them through one sole route"
ABC News reports that Gobea also credited the decrease in migrants to the government's plan to deport migrants back to their countries, as well as heavy rains.
Upon taking office, President Mulino committed to curbing illegal migration through the Darien Gap. Besides closing several paths, perhaps his biggest measure to date was signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in which the U.S. administration committed to covering the repatriation costs of migrants crossing the Darién Gap. Those flights, ABC News reports, have not started as of yet.
The agreement includes U.S. support for Panama with equipment, transportation, and logistics for foreigners detected within migratory flows that violate Panamanian immigration laws. These individuals will be subject to administrative measures in accordance with Panamanian law.
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