Panama: Darien Jungle suffers “irreversible” environmental damage caused by migrants

O Darien JungleThe country, on the border between Colombia and Panama, is suffering “irreversible” environmental damage due to record numbers of migrants crossing into the United States, a Panamanian minister said on Saturday.

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“He irreversible environmental damage It will take many years for this to return to normal. There is damage and every week, every day, it is worse,” Panamanian Security Minister Juan Manuel Pino told the press during a visit to Darién with his Costa Rican counterpart, Mario Zamora.

The natural border, 266 km long and 575 thousand hectares in area, has become an obligatory corridor for thousands of migrants who, coming from South America, try to reach the United States without a visa through Central America and Mexico.

About 390,000 migrants They have entered Panama through this jungle so far this year, much more than in all of 2022, when there were 248,000, according to official Panamanian data.

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“We have to be very careful with this, because this will affect future generations, it will affect our indigenous communities, which are impacted by the trafficking of these people,” added Pino.

A trail of trash left behind migrants in the jungle: boots, socks, plastic bottles, underwear, bras, glasses, toothbrushes and diapers. A lot of waste also covers river banks, AFP journalists noted.

“We were very impressed by the deterioration of natural conditions […] due to the massive passage of people, that is, a scenario that is not designed for this type of human use and that, from a natural point of view, has been seriously affected”, said Zamora.

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Authorities visited the village of Bajo Chiquito and Canaán Membrillo, where thousands of migrants each day. There they board canoes and sail to the Lajas Blancas hostel, where they board buses that take them to the border with Costa Rica to continue their journey to North America.

The ministers announced that the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, will visit Darién on October 7 with his Panamanian counterpart, Laurentino Cortizo, to coordinate joint actions.

In his speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Cortizo stressed that the enormous step of migrants.

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The majority are Venezuelans, but also Ecuadorians, Haitians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Afghans and African countries.

Migrants are also at great risk because they operate criminal gangs that rob, kidnap and rape.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.