Ten people have drowned in a swollen river while trying to cross a lawless stretch of jungle connecting Colombia with Panama, highlighting the continuing perils of the Darién Gap despite efforts to stop irregular migration through the region.
The 10 people, whose nationality has not yet been identified, were probably on their way to the US when they were swept away by strong currents, Panama’s border force said in a statement. Their bodies were found in a river close to the Indigenous community of Carreto on the Caribbean coast.
Authorities said this was one of the largest drowning death tolls in recent memory.
The current wet season makes the swampy, mountainous stretch of jungle more dangerous, particularly due to the rushing rivers that cut through the rainforest.
Last year, at least 48 people died while attempting the arduous, week-long trek, most of them drowning.
Migrants also face the risk of rampant sexual assault by armed bandits as well as aggressive tropical infections, venomous snakes and steep ravines.
Despite the dangers more than half a million people made the treacherous crossing in 2023 – double the number for 2022.
The Darién Gap is the only land crossing for people traveling north through the Americas, and foot traffic has soared since the pandemic.
As migration becomes a more prominent issue in the US ahead of November’s presidential elections, Washington is ramping up pressure on regional governments to stem the flow of migrants.
Panama’s president, Jose Raul Mulino, who entered office on 1 July, had pledged to shut the lawless jungle corridor with the US government paying to fly migrants home, but he has since softened his stance.
Mulino told reporters on 16 July that Panama could not force migrants to take planes home and that repatriation would instead be voluntary.
Panama’s border police have erected around three miles of barbed wire to block some trails through the rainforest and funnel migrants to a single reception point.
It is unclear whether the 10 migrants who drowned decided to cross the Darién during the more dangerous rainy season because of Mulino’s crackdown rhetoric, but their deaths show that trying to make the route more challenging will not stop people from taking it, said Blaine Bookey at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies.
“These tragic deaths underscore that draconian policies are not a deterrent. When people are fleeing for their lives they’re willing to take risks of an uncertain death rather than stay trapped in a burning house where death is certain,” Bookey said.
