Panama to formalize long-used migrant smuggling boat route to handle ‘reverse flow’ south

PANAMA CITY — Panama said Tuesday that it’s working to formalize a route long favored to smuggle migrants on the way to the United States, which is now being increasingly used to return migrants to South America in a reverse flow triggered by the Trump administration.

It comes as a growing number of migrants give up on seeking asylum in the U.S., often after crossing the perilous jungle dividing Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap and waiting more than a year in Mexico for an asylum appointment on the border.

Migrants from countries such as Venezuela and Colombia, unwilling to once again risk their lives crossing the Darien Gap, have paid boats to carry them back to South America along the Caribbean Sea. Migrants are then dropped off in northern Colombia, where many continue their journeys.

In years past, such boats were often used as a “VIP route” for migrants traveling north who could pay enough to avoid walking for days through the dense jungle.

But the Panamanian government has faced a backlash after a boat capsized in rough waters Feb. 21, claiming the life of an 8-year-old Venezuelan child.

After media and regional official reports of Panamanian authority involvement in organizing migrant transport, Security Minister Frank Abrego said Tuesday that the boats were carrying migrants south with the “full knowledge of regional authorities.”

But he said the arrangements were “irregular” deals struck with boat captains.

Abrego said authorities were monitoring the boats to prevent human trafficking, unlawful detention of migrants and other types of criminal action.