Panama criticizes NGOs for encouraging illegal immigration. “International organizations give migrants maps to cross the jungle knowing that they will be raped and robbed,” says migration director.
Panamanian authorities are in conflict with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) In a single week in February, its health teams treated 113 migrants, including nine minors, sexually assaulted by gang members operating in the region. Over the entire month of January, 120 cases were recorded, and some 676 for 2023.