2023-09-06 20:18:02
PANAMA (AP) — Panama is coordinating a bilateral meeting of presidents with Colombia within the framework of the next United Nations General Assembly to address the growing irregular migratory flow through the Darién jungle, which according to official projections would reach half a million transits this anus.
The Panamanian Foreign Minister, Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, informed on Wednesday about the efforts for that bilateral meeting during a discussion with journalists.
The Panamanian authorities have been questioning in recent weeks that neighboring Colombia is not doing enough to contain this massive flow on its border side, so a bilateral between Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro is of particular interest to the Central American country.
The sessions at the UN will take place between September 19 and 26.
The head of Panamanian diplomacy said that the possibility that this flow across the border with Colombia would exceed the 400,000 crossings originally planned had already been considered for months. So far this year, almost 350,000 have already traveled, exceeding the unprecedented figures of 2022 by 100,000.
The Panamanian authorities have also announced that they will take new actions in an effort to control that migration, ruling out the possibility of a total closure of the border. The chancellor insisted that dissuasive measures and legal transit routes for migrants continue to be sought.
In April, the US government announced it would open migration centers in Guatemala and Colombia, as well as Mexico, for asylum seekers heading to its southern border, in an effort to stem a mass exodus after restrictions ended. of health imposed during the pandemic.
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