FILE PHOTO: A migrant carries his child after crossing the Darien Gap and arriving at the migrant reception center, in the village of Lajas Blancas, Darien Province, Panama, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Enea Lebrun/File Photo
PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - Over 300,000 migrants crossed the Darien Gap into Panama in 2024, 42% fewer than the record number who made the perilous jungle crossing from South America a year earlier, Panama's migration authorities told Reuters on Thursday.
The dangerous Darien Gap connects Colombia with the Central American nation of Panama and increasing numbers of migrants were making the journey north to reach the United States.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino has taken a harder stance on migration since taking office last July, including fencing parts of the Darien with barbed wire, imposing fines and using flights funded by the United States to deport migrants.
Officials with Panama's National Migration Service told Reuters 302,203 migrants crossed the Darien last year, down 42% from the record 520,085 in 2023. Some 69% of migrants in 2024 were Venezuelans, they said.
Many Venezuelans have been fleeing a prolonged economic collapse in the once-prosperous South American oil-producing nation.
"We are working every day to ensure that illegal migration does not reach Panama City or the rest of the country," Mulino said in a speech to lawmakers on Thursday.
Mulino added that his government has deported 1,548 migrants on flights arranged through an agreement with the United States.
However, 209,000 Venezuelans who crossed the Darien last year were permitted to continue their journey as Panama and Venezuela suspended direct flights after Venezuela's disputed July election.
Analysts have warned Panama's measures may not be ultimately successful because they do not tackle the root issues prompting people to migrate, and that they could make the journey even more dangerous.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Rod Nickel)
