Rapists and kidnappers increasingly targeting migrants crossing Darien Gap

Source: The Guardian

Rapists and kidnappers increasingly targeting migrants crossing Darién Gap

As record numbers make the perilous journey between Colombia and Panama, Médecins Sans Frontières is treating far more survivors of sexual violence, including children

Luke Taylor
Tue 21 Nov 2023 13.18 GMT

Armed bandits are exploiting the record number of people crossing the Darién Gap – a 100km stretch of jungle connecting Colombia and Panama – to kidnap and rape desperate migrants, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

The organisation said it treated 397 survivors of sexual violence this year – many of them children – once they safely reached Panama. There have been reports of “group rapes in tents set up for that purpose in the mountainous rainforest and swampland”.

The number far exceeds the 172 recorded in 2022, and the charity says it is the latest example of how the suffering of migrants in the Darién is becoming normalised. MSF is urging the Panama and Colombian authorities to deploy an effective security presence in the jungle to protect migrants.

Among the harrowing testimonies given to MSF, migrants described being taken to tents and raped by groups of armed men in front of other migrants.

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Read more: https://archive.li/bL6iT

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/nov/21/rapists-and-kidnappers-increasingly-targeting-migrants-crossing-darien-gap