PANAMA CITY: The Panamanian government expects to begin deportation flights for migrants who have crossed the country’s dangerous Darien jungle in two to three months, the country’s migration chief, Roger Mojica, said.
The flights will be paid for by the United States under a recent agreement the two countries struck earlier this month.
“We are identifying the needs, the equipment and the requirements that Panama has to face in order to start the program and we are having discussions with the United States,” Mojica said during the conference call. “We estimate that we should be able to start the process in two to three months.”
Panama’s new president, Jose Raul Mulino, has vowed to curb illegal immigration and has begun working closely with the US to control the jungle passage that connects Central America to Colombia.
Panama’s Darien Gap jungle, which connects Central America with the South American continent, was crossed last year by a record half a million migrants seeking safety and better economic opportunities abroad.
Panamanian authorities estimate that some 213,702, many of them children, have crossed the Darien so far this year.
The issue of migration has gained momentum ahead of the election in the US, a key destination for many migrants, with Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump promising stronger borders and mass deportations.
