Haiti - Social : 45,628 Haitians braved death by crossing the Darién jungle in 2023

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Haiti - Social : 45,628 Haitians braved death by crossing the Darién jungle in 2023
28/12/2023 08:46:39

According to figures from the Panamanian authorities, from January 2023 until December 20, 45,628 Haitians (including nearly 9,000 boys, girls and adolescents) braved death by crossing the jungle of the Darién Gap from Colombia to Panama, an essential passage to continue their route north in the hope of reaching Mexico, the United States or Canada in search of better living conditions.

Let's remember that the Darién jungle is one of the most dangerous regions in Latin America, 266 km long and with an area of approximately 8,000 km2. In addition to dangers such as wild animals and other venomous species and dangerous rivers, migrants face criminal organizations that rob them or demand payment to guide or protect them on their journey.

A crossing during which migrants are sometimes robbed, attacked or raped along the way and where no less than a hundred die each year during this dangerous journey, for various reasons (aggression, health, poisonous animals, rebels, etc. …)

After crossing the jungle, the migrants first arrive at Bajo Chiquito where Panamanian authorities record their data and where they sleep for a night. The next day, they canoe down the Tuquesa River (at their own expense) to one of the two existing shelters in Darién.

There, known by migrants as "the UN", there are several organizations offering humanitarian and medical aid as well as Panamanian authorities, who provide food aid in a unique operation on the continent in which the government has invested in recent years. 70 million dollars, according to official data.

From Darién, Haitians then continue the bus journey (at their own expense) to neighboring Costa Rica.