Panama government announced a plan to deport illegal immigrants on Thursday (August 22), opening repatriation flights to China, Ecuador, India, and other countries to send back illegal immigrants arrested in Panama in order to reduce the flow of migrants heading to the US border.
The newly appointed President of Panama, Jose Mulino, made this announcement during a weekly press conference, where he pledged to end the country’s status as a major transit hub for immigrants.
The repatriation flights are part of Panama’s collaboration with the United States to prevent a large number of illegal immigrants heading north.
Mulino stated that Panama plans to repatriate 70 people to India on September 3, as well as an unspecified number of Chinese immigrants, without providing detailed information on the flights to China.
In the coming days, there will also be repatriation flights carrying dozens of Ecuadorians and Colombians. Ecuadorians are the second largest immigrant group in the region, only after Venezuelans.
Flights to Ecuador are scheduled to depart starting from August 29, while flights to Colombia are set to depart on August 30.
Earlier, 29 Colombians had already been repatriated on flights under the same program.
An increasing number of illegal immigrants, including many Chinese, are traveling from Panama through the Darien Gap to reach the US border. The jungle-covered gap connects Colombia and Panama and is one of the main routes for immigrants to reach the US border. In recent years, Chinese nationals have become the fourth largest group to use this transit point.
In 2023, over 500,000 immigrants crossed the Darien Gap, setting a new record. As of this year, more than 212,000 immigrants have crossed into Panama.
The US government has been aiming to set up processing centers in Latin America and encouraging neighboring countries to strengthen border enforcement measures to reduce the number of illegal immigrants arriving at the southern US border.
Roger Mojica, the director of Panama’s immigration office, stated on Tuesday that the number of transit passengers had increased by 30% compared to the same period from January to August 2023.
On August 7, Panama’s border police arrested 15 individuals associated with criminal organizations who helped Chinese individuals pass through a less hazardous “VIP route” through the Darien Gap to reach the US. The VIP route costs thousands of dollars per person, while the regular route costs around $500 per person.
According to data from the Panamanian government, the number of Chinese immigrants crossing the Darien Gap has surged in recent years, from 296 individuals recorded between 2010 and 2019 to 12,000 individuals as of 2024.
(This article references reports from Reuters and CNN)