Trigger warning: This article mentions instances of sexual and gender-based violence.
Entrance to Lajas Blancas
As our bus made its way deeper into the jungle, now seven hours from Panama City, I looked out the window to see an archway welcoming us to the Darién. It was November 12, 2024, just days after U.S. election results were announced. I was traveling with faith leaders from Latin America and the United States, members of Como Nacido Entre Nosotros (CNEN or “As Born Among Us” in English), a regional network of individuals, churches and faith-based organizations that raise awareness, mobilize and advocate for people on the move.
Long before approaching the U.S.-Mexico border, many of today’s migrants make the dangerous trek through the Darien Gap, a jungle region that serves as the only land bridge between South and Central America. The roughly 70-mile journey between Colombia and Panama can take anywhere from three days to over a week to cross. Despite being one of the most treacherous migration routes in the world, the Darien has become a common part of the journey to the United States with a record number of 520,000 migrants crossing the region in 2023.
We arrived to Lajas Blancas, a temporary migrant reception station established by the Panamanian government, where about 400 people had arrived by canoe that morning. Several people limped as they walked through the campsite, having suffered injuries in the jungle. The terrain of the Darien is riddled with dangers: fast-rising rivers, disease-carrying mosquitos and lack of clean water, just to name a few.
Realities of the Risks Along the Darien Gap
On the Panamanian side, the risks of theft, violence and sexual assault are particularly high. In February 2024, Doctors Without Borders reported treating 113 people, including nine children, who had been sexually assaulted by armed groups within just one week. Local CNEN members from Necoclí, Colombia explained that such violence is less common in the Colombian portion of the Darien, where organized crime is heavily involved in migrant smuggling in the territory and maintains lower levels of violence to avoid the attention of law enforcement.
Walking through the camp, I noticed a mix of emotions in the faces of those who had arrived: exhaustion from the journey, relief from having made it through, and fear of what was still to come. The only way to leave Lajas Blancas is to pay a $60/person bus ride to Costa Rica on buses chartered by the Panamanian government. I saw families with infants who had been waiting for over a week, desperate to leave but unable to pay. Those attempting to leave by other means face fines of up to $1,000.
The Impacts of U.S. Interventions
Family at a camp on the Darien Gap
Since his first day in office on July 1st, Panama’s president, José Raúl Mulino, made clear his intention to halt migration through the Darien, signing an agreement with the U.S. government for $6 million in funding for deportation flights. Claiming concern for humanitarian needs, Panama announced the closure of several paths through the Darien and stationed immigration officers along a singular route, called the “safe humanitarian corridor.” This agreement is part of broader U.S. efforts to curtail migration before it reaches U.S. borders. Throughout Latin America, we repeatedly see political pressure and financial incentives pushing countries in the region to restrict visa access, close migratory routes and increase immigration enforcement. Yet, history teaches us that deterrence is not only ineffective but also leads to increased protection risks for people on the move.
As journalist Caitlin Dickerson observes in her harrowing Atlantic piece, “These deaths [in the Darien] are the result not only of extreme conditions, but also of the flawed logic embraced by the U.S. and other wealthy nations: that by making migration harder, we can limit the number of people who attempt it… The harder migration is, the more cartels and other dangerous groups will profit, and the more migrants will die.”
After spending the day in Lajas Blancas, I felt more certain than ever that we have a responsibility to inform ourselves about what is happening in the Darién and to understand migration from a regional perspective. As the United States prepares for an administration known for anti-immigration policies, we must look beyond U.S. borders in asking what effect these policies will have on people on the move.
Abbey Combs is the Program Officer for Migrant and Refugee Response with CWS Latin America and the Caribbean. CWS is committed to regional approaches in our response to migration in Latin America and the Caribbean. To learn more about our work, please click here. For more information on the Darien, you can read our 2023 blog or click here.