Lajas Blancas (Panama), 18 December 2023 – “If hell exists, it is this jungle.”
Aura, a Colombian grandmother, has just crossed one of the most dangerous routes in the Americas: the Darien Gap. The Gap is a dense tropical forest covering over 575,000 hectares across Panama and Colombia.
“It is a very dangerous path. Many did not make it, whole families died along the way,” laments Aura.
More than 500,000 migrants have crossed the Darien Gap in 2023 alone so far – the highest annual figure recorded to date.
“The number of migrants in 2023 is unprecedented; it has never been seen here before,” says Commissioner Reinel Serrano from the Panamanian National Border Service, who coordinates efforts to monitor the country’s borders with Colombia and Costa Rica.
“Most of the migrants come from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Haiti, but also from China,” he notes. “There are people of about hundred different nationalities from different continents.
“The majority are young men travelling alone, but there are also entire families. More than 110,000 migrants are minors,” Serrano adds.
Aura left her hometown with her son, daughter in-law and two grandchildren with the goal of reaching the United States of America, where she believes they can have a better life.
“It took us seven days to cross the jungle. I thought I wouldn't make it,” says Aura with tears in her eyes.
“I fell down when we were descending a mountain with a rope,” she explains. “I had a fever; my foot was very swollen and black. My son had to carry me for three days and I even had to crawl, but we made it.”
“We are warriors chasing our dreams,” Aura says proudly.
Blue plastic bags are strewn across the jungle, helping to guide migrants on the right path. But red plastic bags can also be found littered amongst the greenery, indicating the wrong path and danger.
Some migrants believe the bags were placed by other migrants to warn them; others believe it is a service of the smugglers.
Aura, Colombian migrant resting in the Lajas Blancas camp after crossing the Darien Gap.
Migrant smugglers are people who take advantage of migrants by exploiting their desperation to move – for a fee.
“Smugglers use social media to promote and lure migrants and get them to enter the jungle as something attractive, fast and safe,” says Commissioner Serrano.
“They lie to them, telling them that in one day they will be on the other side, when in reality it takes three to fifteen days,” he adds.
Smugglers charge between 180 and 330 dollars per person to let them enter the jungle.
“They put a bracelet on them and tell them that if they don’t pay, their life will be at risk,” explains Serrano.
During their journey, migrants often endure rape, kidnappings, and other violence and abuse - sometimes even death -at the hands of smugglers. Yet despite widespread attention and action, smuggling activities continue globally. The criminals behind this highly profitable business – estimated to be worth $5-7 billion – seize the opportunity created by the need or desire of people to escape not just poverty and lack of employment but also natural disaster, conflict, or persecution.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) works to combat migrant smuggling, defined as a global and widespread crime that involves the facilitation, for financial or other material gain, of irregular entry into a country where the migrant is not a national or resident.
Through the services UNODC provides, authorities are better equipped to prevent migrant smuggling, prosecute the perpetrators and assist the migrants. Our experts support transnational investigations into smuggling rings and the tracing and seizure of the illicit proceeds of this crime.
Translated into English, the text reads: "The Darien Gap is not a route, it is a jungle."
Darien is a national park and World Heritage Site protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
It contains an exceptional variety of habitats – sandy beaches, rocky coasts, mangroves, swamps, and lowland and highland tropical forests with an extensive wildlife. The park is home to two indigenous tribes.
Yet the park’s wild biological diversity, size, and remoteness also make it exceedingly treacherous to cross on foot.
“Migrants have to cross all these natural hazards at the risk of their lives,” says Commissioner Serrano.
Aura echoed the danger to be found in the park. “We faced high temperatures, wild animals and a lot of water in the river,” she says. “I would not do it again.”
“Now, we will travel by bus to Costa Rica to continue our journey to find a decent job and give our children a better future,” Aura concludes.
Through STARSOM (Strengthening Transregional Action and Responses against the Smuggling of Migrants), UNODC works to combat migrant smuggling and protect the lives and rights of migrants across routes leading to North America and crossing multiple countries in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. The project is funded by the Government of Canada through its Anti-Crime Capacity Building Program (ACCBP). To learn more, click here.
