Migrants entering Panama from Colombia through the Darién jungle, on their route to the United States, will be fined up to $5,000, said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino.
“Any person who enters the country […] violating immigration control posts, whether by land, air, or sea, will be fined an amount ranging between one thousand dollars and five thousand dollars, depending on the severity of the infraction,” Mulino said in his weekly press conference.
The president made these statements six days after an executive decree was published in the official gazette increasing fines for migrants, in an attempt to curb entry through the jungle. According to the new regulation, migrants who don’t pay the fine “will not be able to leave the country” and, “if they don’t have the economic resources to comply with the imposed sanction, they will be deported.”
However, the decree stipulates that the sanction “must be adjusted to be accessible and [migrants] can pay it before leaving national territory.” The Darién has become a corridor for migrants who, from South America, try to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
In 2023, more than 520,000 people crossed the jungle, where they face dangers such as raging rivers, wild animals, and criminal gangs that rob, rape, and kill. Others arrive injured and without money at Panamanian control posts, where basic services are provided to migrants before they continue their journey to the Costa Rican border.
So far this year, about 283,000 migrants have entered Panama through the jungle, according to official figures, 37% less than in the same period of 2023. The vast majority are Venezuelans, although there are also Colombians, Ecuadorians, Haitians, and Chinese. “In September there were 25,111 migrants and as of today we are at approximately 21,542” in October, Mulino stated.
The Panamanian government initiated a U.S.-funded program to deport those who cross the Darién. The migration issue is key in Tuesday’s U.S. elections. So far, more than a thousand migrants have been deported under this plan, which does not apply to Venezuelans because Caracas banned the entry of planes from Panama due to questions about President Nicolás Maduro’s controversial re-election on July 28.
“We expect to continue these repatriation flights every week,” Mulino indicated
