Panama to shut down Darien Gap route in deal that will see US pay to repatriate migrants

Source: The Guardian

Panama to shut down Darién Gap route in deal that will see US pay to repatriate migrants

New president José Raúl Mulino has vowed to close the route through which thousands of migrants travel to the US every year

Guardian staff and agencies
Tue 2 Jul 2024 04.04 BST

The US will cover the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally, under a deal agreed with the Central American country’s new president who has vowed to shut down the treacherous Darién Gap used by people travelling north to the United States.

In his first address as president, José Raúl Mulino promised to seek international assistance to find solutions to what he described as a costly “humanitarian and environmental crisis”.

Last year, a record 520,000 migrants risked their lives, often at the hands of people smugglers, to traverse the Darién Gap, a dense jungle on Panama’s border with Colombia.

“We cannot continue financing the economic and social costs that massive illegal immigration generates for the country, along with the consequent connection of international criminal organisations,” Mulino said.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/02/panama-to-shut-down-darien-gap-migrants-usa