According to an article in the JURIST, Samira Gozaine, the director of Panama’s National Migration Institute, held a press conference with Security Minister Juan Manuel Pino, articulating plans to bolster border control and surveillance both on land and in the air.
This announcement reveals intentions to increase the volume of deportations of irregular migrants as migration activity proliferates. The discursive measure will have relevance at airports and the execution is understood to be at the discretion of border officers. To date, Panama has deported over 450 foreigners. It is noted that there is a prospective change that seeks to reduce foreigners with criminal records’ allowance to stay in the country, from 90 to 15 days.
Part of their strategy comprises of conducting more frequent checkpoints to counter and halt criminal gang activity in the jungle. As per the UN records, over 350,000 migrants have traversed the Darién Gap, a jungle linking Panama to Colombia, detailing an increase of 100,000 since 2022.
Panama has instituted reception centres to process migrants at the border, yet the rising numbers are straining capacities and depleting resources. Allegations regarding a confrontational approach to the migrant crisis have also surfaced against the country. The UN has appealed to states to champion human rights-oriented solutions to the issue instead of fostering anti-migrant narratives and escalating protection.
It has been indicated that economic insecurity, political tension, violence, and climate change are all driving migration, particularly among Venezuelans, Ecuadorians, and Haitians who are seeking to make it to the US-Mexico border through South America.
For more in-depth analysis, please refer to the detailed JURIST coverage.