Breaking news Panama President-Elect Pledges To Deport Migrants Who Cross Darien Gap Lastminute news
During presidential campaign, Jose Raul Molino had announced he would 'close' Darien border.
Panama President-elect Jose Raul Molino pledged to deport US-bound migrants who cross the Darien Gap.
"We will begin, with international help, a repatriation process with full respect for the human rights of all the people who are there," said Mulino during a speech on late Thursday. "So those from there [referring to people in South American nations] and those who would like to come know that whoever arrives here will return to their country of origin. Our Darien is not a transit route, no sir, that is our border," added Mulino, the 64-year-old right-wing lawyer who will assume power in the Central American country in July.
During his campaign, Mulino has promised to shut down the 165-mile (265-kilometer) wall of vegetation between Colombia and Panama that has become a corridor for migrants trying to reach the United States through Central America and Mexico.
"The border of the United States, instead of being in Texas, moved to Panama," Mulino, said last month.
While most of those crossing the Darien are of from Venezuela and Ecuador, migrants from India, China and countries in Africa are also embarking on this journey. More than 520,000 people crossed the treacherous jungle in 2023 and more than 110,000 people have made the crossing this year, according to official figures.
Immigration has emerged as one of the most important issues in the US in the 2024 election. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced during the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection ministerial meeting in Guatemala City in Guatemala that the US will provide $578 million in aid to Latin American countries to help combat surging regional migration, as well as sanctions for those who facilitate "irregular migration."
Blinken and Mulino spoke by phone call on Tuesday about different topics, including the fight against corruption, the lack of water in the Panama canal and the Darien migration crisis. -
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