Panama sees record number of US-bound migrant kids
Issued on: 31/03/2023 - 03:22
Modified: 31/03/2023 - 03:20
Panama City (AFP) – The number of US-bound children who crossed the dangerous Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia exploded by a record sevenfold in the past year, authorities said.
According to UNICEF, between January and February 2023 about 9,700 minors crossed the Darien Gap; in the same period of the previous year, some 1,400 were documented.
"Our teams on the ground have never seen such numbers of children crossing the Panamanian jungle alone or with their parents," Panama-based Garry Conille, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a statement.
"This figure is the highest that has been recorded in a period of two months since these records were kept," he said.
Laurent Duviller, a UNICEF adviser, told AFP the rise in migrant children is due to multiple reasons, including increased inequality, unemployment in host countries, and the lack of schooling after the pandemic.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230331-panama-sees-record-number-of-us-bound-migrant-kids
