Panama City-Sana
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that 19,000 children have crossed, since the beginning of the year, a dangerous tropical forest area on the border between Panama and Colombia in their migration towards the United States.
Reuters quoted the organization as saying in a statement that the number of children who have crossed the Dareen Ghab area is three times that of their peers who have crossed it over the past five years, noting that half of them are under the age of five.
She added that in 2021 the bodies of at least five children were found in the bushes, and more than 150 children arrived in Panama without their parents, some of them newborns, five times more than last year.
“Deep in the woods, there are dangers of armed robbery, rape and human smuggling as well as predators, harmful insects and a lack of safe drinking water,” said Jane Gogh, UNICEF regional director. risky.
In early 2021, the authorities in Panama warned of a possible disaster after the borders were opened
Which has been closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
