The United Nations reports that the number of persons who have traversed the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama so far in 2023 has exceeded all previous records. Children made up one in five.
According to a report released on Tuesday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), over 330,000 migrants have crossed the Darien jungle on their route to North America, reaching the U.S.-Mexico border.
This figure is the highest in a year and indicates a record number of migrants and refugees who have taken the perilous route and, in the words of OHCHR, suffered “horrific human rights abuses.”
A spokesman for the organization, Marta Hurtado, stated that children, women, LGBTI individuals, and the disabled are among those who are “partially risked” and that one in five migrants who traversed the forest this year were children.
The administration of Panama has expressed concern over the large number of migrants entering its borders, claiming that up to 2,800 people may cross in a single day.
In recent remarks, Samira Gozaine, the director of Panama’s National Migration Service, stated that the number of “approximately 20,000 persons were handled in a year” was surpassed by one month.
According to the OHCHR, one of the “factors that exacerbate the poor living conditions in the two countries and the vulnerabilities” of migrants is the “limited humanitarian care” in Costa Rica and Panama.
Authorities report that over half of the migrants crossing the Darien are from Venezuela, 14% are from Haiti, and 1% are from Ecuador. Records indicate that some people are immigrants from Peru and Colombia or the offspring of Haitians who were born in Chile or Brazil.
Nevertheless there have also been documented migrations from China, Afghanistan, and Nepal.
At the end of the report, OHCHR states that “the international community calls on the States in the Americas to strengthen their support to narrow protection gaps and help address the structural issues that force people to leave their homes.”
Since May 2023, when Title 42 expired, border officials in the United States have deported over 200,000 individuals who entered the nation illegally.
A follow-up hearing on the agency’s immigration obligations was being planned by the U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday, following the termination of the health power that permitted the swift removal of certain people.
Requests for Verifiable Fear Increase:
The U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee convened a hearing on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the agency’s immigration duties subsequent to the termination of Title 42, the authority that permitted the expeditious removal of certain individuals during the COVID-19 outbreak.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) acting director Andrew Davidson stated in his presentation that “the number of credible fear referrals to USCIS has also increased dramatically.” about 35,000 people were detained,” he stated.
Once in the country, individuals must ask for asylum in front of an immigration officer or judge on the grounds that they have a “credible fear” of being persecuted or subjected to torture.
According to Davidson, his organization witnessed a threefold increase in asylum seekers between the start of Fiscal Year 2023 (October 1, 2022) and August 11, reaching 107,000 instances. Additionally, since May, when Title 42 expired, 51,000 persons have requested for that benefit to be welcomed in the US.
Davidson clarified that the Citizenship Service attempted to address the large number of cases by expanding staff, going from 283 permitted jobs in 2013 to 1,128 by 2023, after the health authorities relaxed the measure.
In addition, they have demanded that asylum officers be trained to handle cases remotely “from anywhere” in the nation and that a group of volunteer officers be established, 275 of whom finished their training on the day of the hearing.
Murders, abductions, trafficking, robberies, and intimidation by organized crime groups are a few of the offenses that have been reported.