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STORY: IOM / DARIEN GAP MIGRATION
TRT: 01:51
SOURCE: IOM
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: APRIL 2023, LAJAS BLANCAS, DARIEN PROVINCE, PANAMA
1. Various shots, aerial views of boats full of migrants on Chucunaque river
2. Wide shot, migrants disembarking boats
3. Various shots, IOM coordinating officer Luz Santo talking to migrants upon arrival
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luz Santo, Coordinating Officer, International Organization for Migration (IOM):
“At this landing point, we receive approximately 700 to 1,000 people daily, and we provide them basic information about the services available to them at the Lajas Blancas migration reception centre, and information about the route.”
5. Various shots, migrants lining up for registration at migration reception centre
6. Various shots, migrants lining up for food and water
7. Various shots, migrants resting at temporary accommodation
8. Tracking shot, Luisa Maria Laya walking with family
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Maria Laya, Venezuelan Migrant:
“When we started our journey through the jungle, it was tough because neither my husband and I nor my children were used to it. It was difficult, intense, and risky for our lives.”
10. Med shot, Luisa Maria and family
11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Maria Laya, Venezuelan Migrant:
“Well, thank God we arrived safely. The important thing is that we arrived alive because many people there think it's a game. It's not a game, what's happening is not a game to venture into that jungle. It's something dangerous, risky. You risk your children’s lives and your own.”
12. Tracking shot, Luisa Maria walking with family
As a record-breaking 148,000 people have crossed the perilous Darien jungle in early 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is increasing efforts to provide humanitarian assistance, protection, and information to people in transit, and supporting remote indigenous host communities, by scaling its’ presence at the borders with Colombia and Costa Rica, and in Panama City.
Over the years, the Darien has become a common transit point for migrants heading north. The latest figures for 2023 vastly surpass the high numbers of 2022, when 258,000 people made the crossing throughout the whole year. Many are poorly equipped for the two to ten days trek during which at least 137 migrants died or disappeared last year, according to Missing Migrants. Project.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luz Santo, Coordinating Officer, International Organization for Migration (IOM): “At this landing point, we receive approximately 700 to 1,000 people daily, and we provide them basic information about the services available to them at the Lajas Blancas migration reception centre, and information about the route.”
During the long trek through the jungle, children and families are exposed to multiple forms of violence, including sexual abuse, and exploitation, as well as a lack of safe water and food, wild animal attacks, and overflowing rivers. Three-quarters of people have suffered an injury or accident on the journey, and one-third have experienced some form of mistreatment or abuse, specifically during the crossing of the Darien jungle.
Among the newly arrived migrants is Luisa Maria Laya, a Venezuelan mother traveling with her two children and husband. They sold everything they had to afford food and hitchhiked part of the way from Venezuela. They hope to join a family already living in the United States.
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Maria Laya, Venezuelan Migrant:
“When we started our journey through the jungle, it was tough because neither my husband and I nor my children were used to it. It was difficult, intense, and risky for our lives.”
SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luisa Maria Laya, Venezuelan Migrant:
“Well, thank God we arrived safely. The important thing is that we arrived alive because many people there think it's a game. It's not a game, what's happening is not a game to venture into that jungle. It's something dangerous, risky. You risk your children’s lives and your own.”
Migrants of over 40 nationalities have crossed the Darién Gap this year. They come from American, Asian and African nations, such as Venezuela, Haiti, Ecuador, China, India, Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Somalia. Most of them are from Venezuela but there has also been an increase in the number of Haitian, Ecuadorian, and Chinese migrants.
