Human Rights Watch has urged the 2 international locations to make sure the security of individuals crossing the damaging migration route.
Colombia and Panama have failed to guard a whole bunch of 1000’s of migrants and asylum seekers crossing a harmful but common jungle migration route between the 2 international locations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has mentioned.
In a report on Wednesday, the rights group mentioned the Colombian and Panamanian authorities haven’t protected individuals transiting via the Darien Gap or adequately investigated abuses which have taken place there, together with sexual violence.
“Whatever the reason for their journey, migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Darien Gap are entitled to basic safety and respect for their human rights along the way,” Juanita Goebertus, HRW’s Americas director, mentioned in a press release.
“Colombian and Panamanian authorities can and should do more to ensure the rights of migrants and asylum seekers crossing their countries, as well as of local communities that have experienced years of neglect.”
Connecting South and Central America, the Darien Gap is a harmful route rife with pure hazards, together with bugs, snakes and unpredictable terrain. Its panorama ranges from steep mountains to dense jungles and powerful rivers.
Criminal teams additionally function within the space, and robberies, extortion and different types of violence are widespread.
Despite these risks, it has change into a particularly common migration pathway for migrants and asylum seekers fleeing violence, socioeconomic crises and different hardships of their house international locations. Many hope to journey north to succeed in the United States.
The variety of individuals passing via the world has repeatedly damaged information, as migration northwards will increase. More than 520,000 migrants and asylum seekers crossed the Darien Gap final yr, greater than double the whole from 2022, in keeping with figures from Panama’s authorities.
Of those that crossed in 2023, greater than 60 p.c have been from Venezuela, which has skilled a mass exodus amid years of socioeconomic and political upheaval. Others have been from nations throughout South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa.
In its report, HRW mentioned the Colombian authorities’s restricted presence within the Darien Gap permits migrants and asylum seekers “to be preyed upon” by members of a drug-trafficking group often known as the Gulf Clan.
The group “controls the movement of migrants and asylum seekers and profits from their desperation and vulnerability”, the rights group mentioned.
HRW urged the Colombian authorities to analyze the Gulf Clan’s position in taking individuals throughout the Darien Gap. It additionally referred to as on Bogota to commit extra sources to the safety of migrants and to probing alleged abuses.
But HRW’s report mentioned that “most of the abuses in the Darien Gap, including robberies and sexual violence, occur in Panamanian territory”.
Panama has carried out a so-called “controlled flow” technique to answer the surge in Darien Gap crossings. Under the coverage, it has established migrant reception centres and permits individuals to board buses to Costa Rica.
HRW on Wednesday criticised the scheme for imposing restrictions on peoples’ means to hunt asylum and limiting humanitarian protections.
“It appears focused on channeling and restricting migrants’ and asylum seekers’ movement through Panama and ensuring that they cross to Costa Rica promptly, rather than responding to their immediate needs or providing them opportunities to file asylum applications in Panama,” its report mentioned.
The organisation urged Panama’s authorities to change its technique.
It additionally mentioned the nation ought to appoint a senior official to supervise its response to the Darien Gap in coordination with the United Nations and different humanitarian teams.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/3/colombia-and-panama-failing-to-protect-migrants-in-darien-gap-hrw?traffic_source=rss
