Panama deported 130 migrants from India on Friday who entered the country through the inhospitable Darién jungle, which borders Colombia, as part of an agreement with the United States.
“130 citizens were deported due to irregular migration at our border with Colombia,” said Panama’s Director of Migration, Roger Mojica, at a press conference following the plane’s departure, which took off mid-morning.
This is the first deportation flight from Panama to a country outside of the Americas and the fourth under the umbrella of U.S. cooperation. Two previous planes carried deportees to Colombia and one to Ecuador.
“The United States is very grateful to the government of Panama for all this support,” said U.S. Security Attaché for Central America, Marlen Piñeiro. “Irregular migration cannot continue,” she added.
The Darién jungle has become a corridor for migrants traveling from South America trying to reach the United States, where they face dangers such as fast-flowing rivers, wild animals, and criminal gangs that rob, rape, and kill.
In 2023, more than 520,000 people crossed the Darién, according to official Panamanian figures. So far this year, about 241,000 migrants have traversed the jungle, two-thirds of whom are Venezuelans.
However, Panama cannot deport Venezuelan migrants following the diplomatic rupture between the two countries due to the contested re-election of Nicolás Maduro on July 28. Since then, Panamanian planes have been barred from entering Venezuelan airspace.
“We are letting the Venezuelans continue on their journey toward the United States,” Mojica noted. In 2024, over 3,800 Indians have passed through the Panamanian jungle, a figure surpassing the 3,736 who did so throughout 2023.
The Indian migrants departed on a U.S. charter flight bound for New Delhi from Panama Pacifico Airport, located on the opposite bank of the interoceanic canal from the capital.
Washington has committed six million dollars to fund the deportation of migrants crossing the Panamanian jungle on their way to the United States. Under this agreement, Panama has deported 219 migrants in two weeks.
With this measure, President José Raúl Mulino seeks to curb migration through the Darién. According to the government, Panama expects a 38% reduction in migrants entering through the jungle in 2024 compared to 2023.
