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Situation
Panama
• By the end of March, according to official figures from Panama’s National Migration Service (SNM, by its acronym in Spanish), 110,008 people had crossed the Darien jungle from Colombia to Panama, including 70,092 Venezuelans, 8,953 Ecuadorians, 7,329 Haitians, 7,136 Colombians, and 6,358 Chinese. This is a 20%increase from the same period last year. The Ministry of Public Security of Panama anticipates the number of Darien crossings this year to exceed last year.
• On 14 February, a boat carrying 27 passengers, mostly Afghans, attempting to enter Panama irregularly capsized near the Caribbean coast of Guna Yala. At least five deaths were recorded, including a boy. Authorities transferred the survivors to hospitals for medical attention. The Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation into the boat’s captain for his responsibility in the tragedy. The Minister of Public Security mentioned that although Panama has strengthened its efforts to monitor irregular boat entries, these incidents continue to occur due to the dangerousness of that stretch of sea.
• The Office of the Ombudsperson announced the opening of an ex-officio complaint related to the increasing cases of refugee and migrant victims of sexual abuse in Darien and expressed its concern to the IberoAmerican Federation of Ombudspersons regarding this matter. Panama and Colombia’s Ombudspersons agreed to activate the Binational Early Alert, a measure focused on safeguarding the lives of refugees and migrants and collaborating with authorities to prevent these acts of violence.
• On 1 March 2024, a fire in several accommodation units caused severe damages to physical structures of the San Vicente Temporary Migratory Reception Station (ETRM) in Darien resulting in the closure of the accommodations. According to the Public Ministry, there were 45 persons under investigation for the incident detained in a penitentiary centre for six months, impacting the ability of partners to assist these people. The remaining refugees and migrants who were in the San Vicente ETRM were transported to EMISUR in Costa Rica, including asylum-seekers and individuals who were in the process of assisted voluntary return.
Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/costa-rica/r4v-situation-report-central-america-mexico-january-march-2024
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Publish date : 2024-06-11 06:04:48
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