R4V Situation Report: Central America & Mexico (October – December 2023) – Costa Rica

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Situation Panama

• During the reporting period, historical numbers of entries to Panama via the Darien jungle were observed. In 2023, 520,085 refugees and migrants crossed the Darien, including 328,650 Venezuelans (63%), Ecuadorians (11%), Haitians (9%), Chinese (5%), and Colombian (4%), representing more than double the total number of crossings in 2022 and the greatest number of crossings in any year to date.

• Nearly two-fifths of those interviewed (39%) had resided in another country for at least six months. The main countries of residence were Colombia (12%), Peru (8%), Ecuador (5%), and Chile (4%). Almost half of interviewed refugees and migrants (49%) were travelling with their ID card as their main travel documentation. Around 30% of interviewed participants were also travelling with their passports; however, 8% had expired passports. Around 48% were travelling with a birth certificate, 7% with a residence permit, and 5% were not travelling with any document. Interviewed refugees and migrants were from Venezuela (60%), Colombia (12%), Ecuador (8%), and Haiti (5%), among others (Source: Partner monitoring aggregated data compiled from data collection exercises from October-December 2023. Monthly reports can be accessed here.

• Beginning in late October, protests against the Minera Panama mining contract resulted in road blockages across the country lasting over five weeks, which affected buses transporting refugees and migrants from the Darien to Costa Rica. Due to the blockades, many refugees and migrants in transit continued their journey on foot. The movement of buses from the Darien to Costa Rica was fully re-stablished towards the end of December 2023 following the declaration of the Supreme Court of Justice on 28 November that Law No. 406 approving the mining contract was unconstitutional.

• In October, the governments of Panama and Costa Rica urgently called upon countries in the region of origin, transit and destination, as well as international organizations, to address the challenges of the human mobility crisis. These governments agreed to allow buses to transport refugees and migrants directly from the Darien region to Paso Canoas (Costa Rica).

• The governments of Panama, Mexico, the United States, and Colombia also held a high-level virtual meeting to highlight the need for safe, orderly and regular migration in the midst of the regional human mobility crisis. • In December, Panama government officials held a meeting with high-level officials of the United States with the purpose of continuing to collaborate on issues related to migration.

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Source link : https://reliefweb.int/report/costa-rica/r4v-situation-report-central-america-mexico-october-december-2023 Author : Publish date : 2024-06-02 09:11:57 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source .