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STORY: UNICEF / DARIEN JUNGLE CHILD CROSSING
TRT: 01:11
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE SEE SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
FEBRUARY 2023, LAJAS BLANCAS & BAJO CHIQUITO, PANAMA
1. Wide shot, boats with Migrants arriving at Bajo Chiquito
2. Med shot, boats with Migrants arriving at Bajo Chiquito
3. Med shot, boats with Migrants arriving at Bajo Chiquito
4. Med shot, boats with Migrants arriving at Bajo Chiquito
5. Close up, child being received by Panama Migration Authorities in Bajo Chiquito
6. Med shot, Panama Migration Authorities receiving Migrants in Bajo Chiquito
7. Med shot, mother and child being received by Panama Migration Authorities in Bajo Chiquito
8. Wide shot, street in MRS Lajas Blancas
9. Wide shot, street in MRS Lajas Blancas
10. Med shot, migrants walking in MRS Lajas Blancas in front of UNICEF and ECHO Sign
NOVEMBER 2022, LAJAS BLANCAS, PANAMA
11. Med shot, children at UNICEF Child Friendly Space
NOVEMBER 2021, SAN VICENTE MIGRANT RECEPTION STATION, PANAMA
12. Med shot, RET Official and UNICEF Official doing exercise with a child in Child Friendly Space
13. Wide shot, RET Official and UNICEF Official playing with a child in Child Friendly Space
According to UNICEF, the number of child migrants crossing a stretch of jungle dividing Colombia and Panama has rapidly increased in 2023 and now exceed the whole of 2022.
Garry Conille, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, in a written statement noted, “It is alarming that just halfway through 2023, more children have crossed the dangerous Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama than during the whole of last year. In the first six months of this year, over 40,000 children have already made the perilous journey across the Darien Gap.”
According to him, “Half of these children on the move are under five years old and have specific needs. I met some of them and their parents when I went to the Darien jungle a few weeks ago. Most of these migrant families have lost everything during the crossing –their belongings, their identity documents, their money; they are left with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. It was heartbreaking to hear these survivors’ stories of hardship.”
He also noted, “With more and more children, including very young children, on the move, it’s vital to urgently adopt more child-friendly national migration policies and more robust humanitarian responses, including age-specific health and child protection services, across the region."
Conille also stated, “In support of governments, UNICEF is working along migration routes with local partners to provide lifesaving assistance to children and their families. In Colombia, as they make their way to the Darien Gap, UNICEF and partners are helping to provide safe drinking water, hygiene supplies, and protection services for children, including working with local authorities to identify unaccompanied and separated children, and providing information to families about potential risks on the migration route.”
According to him, “In Panama, where they exit the Darien Gap, in support of the government, UNICEF has scaled up its presence to provide essential services such as water, hygiene and sanitation, spaces for self-care for women and adolescent girls, and health services and psychosocial support and child protection, through child-friendly spaces for children on the move and host communities,”
He informed, “UNICEF urges countries of origin, transit and destination across Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen child protection systems, expanding access to gender- and age-responsive, rights-based services during the migration journey and in host communities. Governments must also ensure legal, orderly and safe migration pathways and access to essential services such as education, protection and health for all migrant children.”
Conille concluded, “The region’s evolving migration dynamics demand a comprehensive, cross-border and multidirectional response that ensures the best interests of the child. No matter their reasons for leaving home, or their legal status, children have the right to be protected at all times.”
