In 2023, migrant crossings through Panama reached a historic high, as half a million people traversed the deadly Darién gap, and one in five of them was a child. Most migrants were from Venezuela, Ecuador, Haiti, or China.
Many do not survive the journey through the Darién rainforest, which is the only way to cross the Panama-Colombia border by land. An unrecorded amount of people lose their lives each year to drownings in the rainforest’s rapid floods, falls while climbing steep mountains, or criminal gangs that prey on migrants.
Migration through Panama has become an industry, for both the smuggling networks that have set up shop in the Darién as well as the government of Panama. For $100 per person, migrants can pay a bus ticket for a bus ride north to Costa Rica, in a government program we’ve explained here.
Last March, we visited the Darién crossing and followed the migratory route to the northern border of Costa Rica along with our partners. We began partnering more closely with the Franciscan Network for Migrants’ Panama team, who have been working around the clock to address the emerging humanitarian crisis.
Thanks in large part to the support of our donors, the Panama team has been able to transition from running a temporary shelter for victims of a tragic bus accident, to opening a permanent shelter for vulnerable migrants. To our knowledge, our partner shelter in Panama is the only non-profit-run migrant shelter in the country, with the alternative being military-operated, overcrowded refugee camps.
In 2023, the Panama team continued ramping up their activities, and successfully:
- Distributed more than 300 humanitarian kits and sanitary supplies to migrants;
- Hosted 350 migrants in particularly vulnerable situations;
- Carried out 3 accompaniment trips in Paso Canoas and 2 in the Darién;
- Purchased tables for and expanded the capacity of a food kitchen in Paso Canoas;
- Joined with partners in a campaign to shift public views on migrants, including advocacy and public actions.
Now, the Quixote Center is planning its first solidarity trip to Panama on March 11-18. Participants will witness the journey that migrants must take and meet with the human rights defenders that accompany them. You can click HERE to learn more, and HERE to apply to join the group.
Your support is vital to helping the Panama team carry out their life-saving work, and we hope to see you join us.