VERACRUZ: As part of a repatriations agreement reached with the United States in July, 130 irregular migrants from India who had entered the nation through the hostile Darien jungle were returned by Panama on Friday. Under the terms of the agreement, this was the first such expulsion outside of the Americas and the fourth overall.
With the intention of lowering unauthorized crossings at its own southern border, Washington committed to spending $6 million on migrant repatriations from the Central American country.
The Indians were deported for “irregular migration” on a charter flight to New Delhi, according to Roger Mojica, Panama’s director of migration. US Security Attache for Central America Marlen Pineiro stated during the same press conference that Washington was “extremely grateful to the government of Panama for all this support” and that “irregular migration cannot continue.”
Overland migrants heading from South America through Central America and Mexico to the United States now use the Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama as a major route. Over 500,000 unauthorized migrants, primarily from Venezuela, crossed the Darien despite the risks, which included attacks by criminal gangs.
Washington is putting more pressure on transit nations like Panama and Mexico to address the divisive immigration problem during a US election year. The July agreement calls for the initial deportation of migrants with criminal records, but it also allows for the repatriation of anyone who enters Panama through the infamously hazardous and unforgiving Darien Gap region.
