(CNN Spanish) — Nearly 70,000 migrants have crossed Darien ForestWhich divides Colombia from Panama on its way to the north of the continent by now in 2024, Panama’s Security Minister Juan Manuel Pino said this Sunday.
“More than 68,400 people have passed through Panama, as Panama is a transit country,” the official said in a message published on the Security Ministry’s account on the social network X.
And he said that is 24,000 more if compared with the same date last year.
As of this Sunday, Panama’s National Immigration Service had not published statistics on arrivals through Darien for February, although it was reported at the beginning of the month that about 40,000 migrants had crossed the jungle between January and February this year .
According to the organization, 90% of that figure was made up of people from the American continent and 10% came from other continents.
Pino said he expects the transit of migrants from the region to exceed the 2023 figure, when Panama had 520,085 people.
“This is what we are seeing because of the scenario we are seeing in the Southern Hemisphere,” the minister said, without elaborating on the comments. “We remain committed to our mission and the humanitarian side.”
The 106-kilometre journey across the Darién takes migrants from Colombia to Panama and is a crucial step for those hoping to reach the United States and Canada.
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