The Panamanian government on Sunday accused international humanitarian organizations of encouraging illegal immigration by distributing cards to help those crossing the Darien jungle to reach the United States.
“International organizations give migrants maps to cross the jungle knowing that they will be raped and robbed.
“It’s extremely irresponsible
,” said the director of migration, Samira Gozaine, in a video published on X.
The Panamanian authorities are in conflict with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which denounced on February 29 a sharp increase in sexual violence against migrants making this dangerous crossing.
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.
The government responded by suspending MSF's humanitarian work in the jungle and accusing it of not sharing data on suspected victims of sexual violence.
Last week, MSF said it had been
"forced to suspend all medical activities for the migrant population in Darien on orders from Panamanian authorities
. "
Also read: More than 500,000 migrants crossed the jungle between Colombia and Panama to reach the United States in 2023
The government cited the lack of a valid
“collaboration agreement”
with the Ministry of Health to operate in Panama.
The NGO said it had tried in vain to renew the agreement since October 2023. MSF says it provides medical and psychological care to around 5,000 people per month, particularly victims of sexual violence.
The Darien, 265 kilometers long, has become a corridor for migrants hoping to reach the United States.
There they face dangerous terrain, wild animals and violent gangs.
Some 82,000 people have crossed it since the start of the year: mainly Venezuelans, but also Haitians, Ecuadorians, Colombians and Chinese, according to official data.
In 2023, a record number of 520,000 people will cross Darien.