The number of minors crossing the swampy jungle at the Colombia-Panama border known as the Darien Gap, is on pace to rise by 34% to reach 160,000 this year, the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday.
The migration of mostly US-bound kids through the Darien Gap represents “a prolonged crisis,” UNICEF said in a statement, adding that current data points to record child migration in 2024 for the fifth consecutive year in the dangerous stretch of jungle. More than 30,000 minors have already trekked through the area in the first four months of this year, up 40% from same period last year. Around 2,000 of them were unaccompanied or otherwise separated from their families.
Over 30,000 children crossed the dangerous Darien Gap in the first four months of 2024. Nearly 2,000 of them were unaccompanied or separated from families.“The dangers to children and their unmet needs are increasing as we speak.” – UNICEF’s @TedChaiban.https://t.co/KJv3cQmo6s
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) May 15, 2024
READ MORE: ‘This Hell Was My Only Option’: Migrants Pushed to Cross Darién Gap at Colombia-Panama Border
What exactly is Darien Gap, a well-known ‘Donkey Route’
“The Darien Gap is no place for children. Many children have died on this arduous, dangerous journey. Women have given birth while en route, bringing new life into the world in the most challenging of circumstances,” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban is quoted as saying in the statement.
Children account for a fifth of all people crossing the jungle, he added. In 2023, a record-breaking 520,000 migrants made the same journey. Earlier this month, voters in Panama elected Jose Raul Mulino as president, who will take office in July and has pledged to shut down the migration route.
In a scathing report published last November, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised grave concerns about the restrictions on movement imposed by governments in the Americas that have pushed migrants and asylum seekers to risk their lives crossing the Darien Gap.
The 62-page report, “‘This Hell Was My Only Option’: Abuses Against Migrants and Asylum Seekers Pushed to Cross the Darien Gap,” is the first in a series of HRW reports on migration via the Darien Gap. The US-based watchdog found that restrictions on movement from South American countries to Mexico and Central America have helped contribute to sharp increases in numbers of people crossing the Darien Gap.
This exposes migrants to abuses, including sexual violence, and empowers organized crime in the area, according to the group. “The devastating stories we heard in the Darien Gap are the result of failed immigration policies that push people into danger and abuse,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at HRW. “The increasing immigration challenges in our region require new, region-wide policies that ensure the rights of people on the move.”
(With agency inputs)
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