In the past year, the town of San Vicente in Panama has seen a significant increase in the number of Venezuelan immigrants passing through what is known as the Darien Gap—a precarious piece of land between Panama and Colombia—in search of asylum in countries like Mexico and the United States. As migrants flee the worsening socioeconomic situation in Venezuela, Venezuelans have become the second largest migrant group, behind Mexicans, crossing the American border but the largest displaced group in the Americas. The treacherous jungle passage presents a series of challenges to the migrants, as few measures are being taken in the international community to improve the migrant journey. 

Although migrants from all over the world pass through the Darien Gap, Venezuelans have risen to the second-largest nationality to be stopped at the U.S. border. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the already-declining economy in Venezuela has steepened. Families live in poverty with a constant lack of access to food, water, and tenable shelter. The United States played a key role in the propagation of this issue by placing economic sanctions on Venezuela. They halted the export of cooking oil and other household goods that were vital. They are fleeing their homes for survival and risking their lives so that they and their families can pursue a better life.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the Darien Gap is the most dangerous of the migration routes in Latin America. Located through a patch of untouched jungle on the border between Panama and Colombia, it is characterized by frequent heavy rainfall and a hot, humid climate. The rain causes mudslides and strong river currents which threaten to sweep migrant travelers away to their deaths, but geographic obstacles are not the only challenges migrants must overcome. 

There are many groups who take advantage of the vulnerable predicament the migrants and refugees are in. Locals offer to guide migrants through the terrain at high costs per person, around $300 to $900 in US dollars—a fee which most migrants cannot afford. They also make the trip unnecessarily longer by guiding the groups in loops to make a more lucrative profit. In addition, drug traffickers from Colombia—who extensively use the route due to the absence of a strong police presence— rob, rape, and extort the migrant groups that pass through. 

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Darien Gap has become more likely with the dramatic increase in number of migrants. Medecins Sans Frontieres reported that they have treated 396 women for sexual violence between April of 2021 to March of 2022. One woman shared her story with a reporter, recounting a moment on the trail when a man saw her breast-feeding her baby. He “took out a shotgun and a machete,” and stole all the belongings they were carrying. Others have revealed their experiences of being held hostage by cartel members, touched inappropriately, or raped. Unfortunately, there are no medical resources immediately available to these women on the trail. When they reach the end, they usually have to travel even farther to the nearest medical center, where it is often too late to be treated for the injuries or unwanted pregnancies they might have incurred. 

The Panamanian government is struggling to support Indigenous communities in the Darien region who are lodging migrants and refugees. According to Aljazeera, there are approximately nine thousand migrants and refugees in Necoclí, an obligatory stop in the journey towards the Darien Gap on the Colombian side. When these migrants and refugees land in towns, like San Vicente and Bajo Chiquito in Panama, they will encounter long wait times for transportation and shelter, along with shortages of food. Although the Panamanian government has allocated a significant amount to aiding these communities by providing services, supplies, and resources for the migrants, the nation’s government continues to find their resources depleted quickly. The weight of the crisis should not be theirs to bear alone. While Colombia has welcomed immigrants to take residency in some major cities, they have not offered enough social and economic support to properly integrate them into the legal and political system. The financially disadvantaged immigrants who remain in Colombia, primarily Venezuelans, are vulnerable to the exploitation of criminal groups.

The situation in the Darien Gap has evolved into a full-blown humanitarian crisis that requires international cooperation to ensure the safety of the migrants and refugees as they traverse through the gap. In 2021, the Biden administration acknowledged that the crisis “knows no borders and requires immediate collaboration”. Other than signing a Bilateral Agreement with Panama outlining commitments to strengthen migration policies and protection for those in the region, the United States has not contributed much in the way of humanitarian aid. Seemingly, Panama is taking the lead on this one, facilitating an information sharing agreement with Colombia to “monitor the flows of migrants” moving towards the Darien Gap. 

However, modifying immigration laws, strengthening visa requirements, and providing more aid to the countries dealing with the movement of migrants and refugees will not solve the issue in its entirety. The root of the problem originates from the countries they are fleeing from—problems that stem from climate change, global economic instability, and political strife.

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