Tens of thousands of migrants cross dangerous Colombia-Panama's Darién jungle

More than 31,000 migrants have crossed the dangerous Darien jungle, the natural border between Colombia and Panama, during the first 40 days of the year, almost the same number as in the first five months of 2022.

From Jan. 1 until early Wednesday morning, a total of 31,610 migrants had crossed the 266 kilometers of jungle, according to data provided to the EFE agency by the National Migration Service (SNM).

This means that in a little more than five weeks of 2023 there were almost the same number of migrants in five months between January and May 2022, when an estimated 33,819 people crossed.

Fifteen percent of travelers so far this year are "people in a special state of vulnerability: children and adolescents," the deputy director of the SNM, María Isabel Saravia, told the news agency on Wednesday.

Citizens from Haiti are the largest migrant group so far, with 12,585 people, followed by Ecuadorians (8,240), Venezuelans (3,535), Indians (641) and Colombians (465). The rest of the travelers come from more than 30 countries around the world, including South America, Asia and Africa.

In 2022, the Panamanian authorities reported the passage of a total of 248,284 irregular migrants through the Darién jungle —a record number—, mostly citizens of Venezuela (150,327), Ecuador (29,356) and Haiti (22,435); in addition to a large number of Cubans.

According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 36 migrants died in 2022 when crossing the Darién, where travelers face the dangers of a wild environment —animals, floods, ravines—, as well as the presence of organized crime, which has used the area for decades to traffic drugs, weapons and people.

The reported death toll is possibly "only a small fraction of the true number of lives lost" in the area, the IOM warned in January.

Many of these travelers are also victims of robbery and sexual violence, including minors, the organization warned.