UNICEF sounds safety alarm as wave of child migrants cross Darién Gap jungle bridging South and Central America

Amid the continued exodus from Venezuela, a new report from the United Nations says that more than 30,000 children crossed the Darién Gap, the jungle bridge that connects Colombia and Panama and Colombia, between January and April.

The report, which was published by UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency, says the number of juveniles crossing the lethal land bridge has skyrocketed 40% since last year.

While some migrants leaving Venezuela and other South American countries have settled in Central American locations and Mexico, most of them have pinpointed the southwest U.S. border as a destination, hoping to gain asylum into the United States.

The numbers of those crossing the Darien Gap have skyrocketed since the Biden presidency started.

An estimated 506,000 migrants illegally crossed the Darien Gap from South America into Central America in 2023, according to a Dec. 17 Associated Press report, a dramatic surge from the 30,000 that crossed in 2016.

According to prior ADN reporting, only 30,000 migrants crossed the Gap in 2016, compared to 133,726 in 2021, 248,284 in 2022 and about 320,000 2023.

An April 4 ADN report says the Darien region has suffered from significant pollution since the migration crisis began, and Panama has started efforts to close its border to shut down the natural land bridge.

The migration crisis has become so prevalent, some credit it with being the main issue that changed the direction of the recent 2024 Panamanian presidential race, leading to the election of conservative immigration crusader Josê Raúl Mulino.

“This is not a transit route, no, this is our border,” the president-elect recently said. He will be sworn in as Panama’s new head of state in July.

The migration crisis has also seen a surge in crime that has led to immigrants and refugees being assaulted, threatened and robbed and gunpoint by gangs while women have faced sexual assaults. Since December, 214 cases of sexual violence have occurred in the Darién, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

MSF reportedly collected the data by conducting one on one interviews with migrants who said they were actually taken hostage by armed bandits who forced them to strip at gunpoint—and face sexual abuse. The international medical group said that while women constitute most of the sexual abuse victims, men and children have also faced similar encounters.

As a result of the increasing crime and violence, UNICEF deputy executive director Ted Chaiban said that many children have perished “on this arduous, dangerous journey,” according to a recent May 17 report filed by the BBC.

With a population of only about 8,000 indigenous people, the Darién Gap is considered one of the most inhospitable areas of the world.

While there have been discussions connecting the Central and South American land bridge as part of the Pan-American Highway, there is a 66 mile stretch of jungle where there are no roads. Many of the migrants who cross the dense jungle on foot are often guided by coyotes who yield to orders from drug cartels that decide when they can cross as part of their ongoing efforts to evade and deter law enforcement.

Even some of the children who cross the natural land bridge are unaccompanied. Of the 30,000 children who crossed the Gap during the first four months of 2024, 2,000 were without parents or guardians, according to UNICEF.

“The Darién Gap is no place for children,” Chaiban said.

Amid the continued struggle to protect children, UNICEF has helped young juvenile migrants by offering them food, water and places to keep clean and visit with medical professionals. The organization says their funds are running low however, and they need more support to satisfy the continued child-migrant crisis.

If you are interested in following updates from UNICEF about child safety and assistance, you can subscribe to updates and alerts at https://www.unicefusa.org.