The number of migrants crossing the treacherous Darien Gap linking Colombia and Panama more than doubled in the first quarter of 2022 compared with the year-earlier period, led by Venezuelans, Panamanian officials said on Tuesday.
In the first three months of the year, 13,425 people crossed the region compared with 5,622 people in the same period of 2021, Panama’s National Migration Service (SNM) said.
The Darien Gap encompasses a dangerous jungle where migrants trekking on foot for days often suffer robbery, violence and sexual abuse while en route to the United States.
More than 31% of the migrants through March this year came from Venezuela, overtaking Haitians, who in previous years represented the nationality most likely to take the Darien route.