The body of a migrant who died in the Darien jungle was recovered this Friday by officials of the National Border Service (Senafront) and Panama Migration. The uniformed men had to enter by air.
Officials have monitored the area with helicopters, as it allows them to reach areas where there may be bodies, according to reports from migrants who have passed through the jungle. This was reported by the En Frontera portal.
The identification of the body is scheduled to begin next Monday by the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences of Panama.
More than 20,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darien Gap in 2021
Of the 134,000 people who crossed the Darién Gap in 2021, a total of 26,800 (20%) were Venezuelans, according to figures from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Mexico.
“Between January and February 2022, more than 2,500 people crossed. The second group of asylum we receive is from Venezuelans. Between 15,000 and 20,000 people seek refugee status in Mexico,” said Conrado Zepeda, SJ., director of JRS, during an interview for the Punto y Seguimos program broadcast by Radio Fe y Alegría Noticias.
He explained that they do not keep an exact record of Venezuelan migrants who pass through the Darién jungle, because not all of them reach them. “Some families travel complete with grandparents and are cared for by other organizations,” she said.
The priest pointed out that many of the people who cross this dangerous pass, located between Colombia and Panama, report conditions of extreme heat, great insecurity, fear, anguish and the desire to reach.