Darien Gap

In the last 10 years, data from the IOM and the Missing Migrants Project reveals that at least 11,038 people have died along migration routes across the Americas

"I am very pleased to have fulfilled my promise and closed the Darién, with all that this means for regional and Panamanian security," said President José Raúl Mulino

Panama's government reports that 2,200 migrants have crossed back into the country heading south this year while only 408 migrants traveled north

Panama's government has released dozens of migrants who were deported from the United States and held for weeks in a remote detention camp

The ordeal of those returning has been further highlighted a tragedy last Friday, when a boat carrying 21 migrants capsized in rough waters

Security Minister Frank Abrego said the number of crossings has dropped to about 300,000 from the 520,000 of last year

Two Colombians could be extradited to the U.S. for their role in the disappearance at sea of the group

In the same period last year, the number of crossings was 482,000; this year that number has decreased by nearly 200,000

With over 263,000 migrants crossing the Darien Gap this year, Panama's President José Raúl Mulino hopes a third country will accept deported Venezuelans.

DHS official said that thanks to deportation flights, the U.S. government has been able to send back more than 131,000 people in deportation flights since June

Over the past two years, the Treasury Department has sanctioned more than 350 targets for involvement in drug trafficking activities

In the last 18 months, Humans Right Watch reported that almost 700,000 people crossed the Darien Gap; about 65% of them are from Venezuela

The NGO urges governments to improve protection schemes, grant legal status and reverse "onerous visa requirements" for millions of Haitians and Venezuelans

Migration through the region has decreased almost 30% compared to the past year

Colombia and Panama agreed to increase state presence along their shared border to fight back human trafficking and smugglers

Fewer than a quarter million had gone through the jungle path by late August, compared to over half a million in all of 2023

The government began carrying out the flights this week

A group of 29 Colombians with criminal records were the first to be returned

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said most migrants apprehended come from Venezuela

15 people were accused of moving the migrants through the route known as the Darien Gap

The arrests were made in the town of Santa Fe, near the city of Meteti in Darien Province, Panama's border region with Colombia covered in dense jungle and through which hundreds of thousands of migrants cross on their way to the United States.

President Mulino said that "practically all of Venezuela is walking through there every day"

The measure could potentially diminish the impact of an agreement with the U.S. to stem the flow of migrants crossing through the path

José Raul Mulino vowed to stop illegal migration and got the Biden Administration to agree to cover repatriation costs of migrants from the U.S.

Panama's new president on Thursday ruled out forcibly repatriating US-bound undocumented migrants who make the dangerous jungle crossing from Colombia, in an apparent softening of his stance.

The new Panamanian government has taken drastic actions to reduce the flow along the already treacherous path used by hundreds of thousands of migrants

Both countries signed a memorandum of understanding in which the U.S. committed to cover repatriation costs of migrants crossing the infamous gap

Authorities say they seek to "channel" the flow of people so as to have better control of it

In return, Panama committed to adhering to all international agreements and conventions regarding the rights of migrants and refugees

José Raúl Mulino told a journalist he wants to start daily repatriation flights for undocumented immigrants from Panama if the U.S. pays for them