U.S., Colombia to open three migration offices to stem irregular crossings

FILE PHOTO: Haitian migrants stand while seeking to resolve their legal situation to avoid deportation from Colombia and continue their way to Panama and the United States, in Cali, Colombia, August 10, 2016. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga/File Photo

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Three offices meant to attend Haitian, Cuban and Venezuelan migrants hoping to reach the United States will open in Colombia, the Andean country's foreign ministry said on Thursday, the initial phase of a plan to reduce migrant flows through the dangerous Darien Gap.

The Safe Mobility scheme was agreed between Colombia, Panama and the United States in April in a bid to address humanitarian issues in the Darien, where migrants often suffer death, injury and crime.