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STORY: PANAMA/DARIEN GAP
TRT: 3.19
SOURCE: IOM
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH/NATS
DATELINE: RECENT 2022, DARIEN PROVINCE, PANAMA
1. Wide shot, migrants arriving by boat on Chucunaque river
2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Freddy Camacho, Venezuelan migrant:
“My wife was pregnant with my second daughter, so we were afraid to go through the jungle because of her four months pregnancy. After eight months we tried to go thgough again and we managed to cross.
1. Aerial shots, Darien Jungle with Chucunaque river
2. Med shot, migrants walking off boat by Chucunaque river
3. Wide shot, migrants lining up to be registered with SENAFRONT authorities
4. Wide shot, migrants boarding SENAFRONT truck towards reception center
5. Med shot, Freddy's wife with child
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Freddy Camacho, Venezuelan migrant:
“When I set apart from them. I felt like if they took away a piece of me. When I saw them again, I felt a lot of relief and happiness. I want to give my daughthers and my wife the life I never had. I want to to settle down, help my mum and fulfill my dreams.”
7. Med shot, Freddy with her wife and two children
8. Wide shot, migrants getting off boat/lining up
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Reyner Martinez, Venezuelan migrant:
“Crossing the Darien Gap was a very difficult experience. Because it was something that I did not expect, but after one is amid that jungle, with no food and without even knowing if there is going to be someone waiting on that side or something. Truth is, I didn’t knew that the experience was going to be like this. Because once you are in, you can’t turn away, but only move forward.”
10. Close up, feet of migrants walking
11. Med shot, migrant families arriving at reception center
12. Med shot, IOM staff talking to migrants
With a bag full of hopes and dreams, Freddy Camacho, 22, Venezuelan father, her wife and two children arrived at a Migrant Reception Station in San Vicente, at the edge of Darien Gap. The family decided to take the journey north from Venezuela through the dangerous jungle with their two children in search of better opportunities.
The decision to leave their country, home, family and friends to start all over again was a difficult but necessary one for them and many other migrants. They were hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted upon arrival at the station. During the trip, Freddy and his family were separated for several days. “When I set apart from them. I felt like if they took away a piece of me. When I saw them again, I felt a lot of relief and happiness. I want to give my daughthers and my wife the life I never had.”
According to the National Migration Service of Panama, 71,012 people have entered through the dangerous migratory route of the Darien jungle during the year 2022. Out of the 71,012, 44,943 (63 per cent) were Venezuelans, overtaking Haitians who in previous years represented the nationality most likely to take the Darien route. The number of Venezuelans who crossed Darien in 2022 is 10 times larger than the entire year 2022.
The Darien Gap, which marks the border between Colombia and Panama, is one of the world’s most dangerous refugee and migrant routes, consisting of 5,000 square-kilometers of tropical wilderness, steep mountains, and rivers. Crossings can take 10 days or more for the most vulnerable, who are exposed to natural hazards as well as criminal groups known for perpetrating violence, including sexual abuse and robbery.
For thousands of migrants around the globe the perilous, roadless jungle becomes a path of desperate hope to the north in search of a better life. A babel of languages mixes in the vast jungle, from where some never emerge alive, though the death toll is unclear. They come from Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, but also many countries in Africa and Asia. Many often passed through South American countries after working for months or even years.
As of July 2022, migratory transit increased with an entry of 500 to 700 people per day to Panama from Colombia. Since 2014, at least 179 people were reported missing or dead according to the Missing Migrant’s project, being the main causes of death drowning and violence.
In response to the growing number of people crossing the Darien Gap, IOM and partners are stepping up the response in Panama, providing temporary shelters at government-run reception centers, as well as mattresses, blankets, solar lamps and hygiene kits, among other material assistance for both people on the move and local communities. IOM also continues to coordinate closely with government institutions throughout the region to ensure access to asylum systems and other regularization programmes.
There are more than 6.1 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela around the world. The vast majority – more than 5 million – reside in Latin America and the Caribbean.
