Panama's President Jose Raul Mulino said Thursday that local authorities have seen an increase in Chinese migrants heading to the United States across a jungle road in the Darien Canyon.
The Darien Canyon is a 30-mile-wide, 100-mile-long jungle pass shared by Panama and neighboring Colombia, and is the only land bridge connecting South America with Central America. In recent years, a dramatic and unprecedented number of migrants have been passing through this dangerous jungle pass on their way to the United States.
Panama Immigration Documented 520,085 immigrants The Darien Gap for 2023 is a record-breaking number, double the 248,284 people enrolled in 2017. 2022In 2021, the authorities Documented A total of 133,726 immigrants passed through this route.
While the statistics overwhelmingly consist of people fleeing Venezuela's socialist regime, Panamanian migration authorities have recorded a sharp increase in the number of Chinese people making the journey through the jungle to the United States in recent years. 296 From 2010 to 2019 12,070 The first eight months of 2024. China is currently the fourth largest group by nationality on this list.
in 2023Local authorities recorded 25,565 Chinese migrants passing through the jungle trail, up from 2,005 recorded in 2010. 2022.
“we [total migrant flow through the Darién Gap]However, in some recent entries, nationals from Nepal and China have appeared in greater numbers,” Murino said. said During a press conference.
Mulino, who took office on July 1, pledged during his presidential campaign to curb illegal immigration through the Darien Valley. Shortly after taking office, Panama's new government install A barbed wire fence will be installed on part of the jungle trail route. agreement Work with the US to set up US-funded deportation airports; Reportedly It began in August. That same month, the Panamanian government Announced It announced it would launch a program of deportation flights to China, India, Ecuador and Colombia.
President Mulino reportedly said at a press conference on Thursday that he was aiming to reach an agreement with Beijing to deport Chinese nationals passing through the Darien Valley, but did not provide details.
In August, Panamanian authorities said that Senafront border patrol agents Dismantled They uncovered a “VIP” route used by Chinese immigrants to pass through the Darien Valley and arrested 15 people who were controlling it.
According to local prosecutors, on the “VIP” routes, organizers offered Chinese migrants packages ranging from $2,600 to $8,000 each in exchange for faster, safer passage across dangerous jungle trails. The “VIP” routes allowed migrants to take alternative routes across the jungle trails than the more common routes, which take five to eight days.
Panamanian prosecutor Emeldo Marquez said at least 700 migrants were believed to have paid to use the private route.
The Panamanian government reportedly expects a significant drop in migrants passing through the Darien Highlands by the end of 2024 compared to 2023, due to the closure of several routes and repatriation flights.
In addition to Panama, Ecuador has begun cracking down on illegal Chinese migrants passing through its territory. Resurrected In July, the Chinese government relaxed entry visa requirements for Chinese citizens, suspending a visa waiver agreement that was signed in January 2015 under the pro-China government of former socialist President Rafael Correa.
Panama has vowed to curb the flow of migrants through the Darien Valley, but migrants can avoid the dangerous jungle roads entirely by flying to Nicaragua, where communist dictator Daniel Ortega has declared: “We are going to have to fight the storm.”WeaponizationIt was an act of “treason” by migrants against the United States, which instead of allowing US-bound migrants safe passage through Nicaraguan territory imposed several fees and “fines,” resulting in record-breaking migration numbers. Profit For the communist regime.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
