Body of migrant recovered from Darien Gap

The body of a migrant who died in the Darien forest was recovered this Friday by the National Border Service (Senafront) and Panamanian immigration officials. Uniformed personnel must fly in.

Authorities have been monitoring the area with helicopters, as this allows them to reach areas where bodies may be, according to reports from migrants who passed through the forest. This was reported by the En Frontera portal.

The identification of the body by Panama’s Institute of Forensic Medicine and Forensic Sciences is set to begin next Monday.

More than 20,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darien Gap in 2021

A total of 26,800 (20%) of the 134,000 people who crossed the Darien Gap in 2021 were from Venezuela, according to figures from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Mexico.

“Between January and February 2022, more than 2,500 people passed through. The second group we are receiving is asylum from Venezuelans. 15,000 to 20,000 people are seeking refugee status in Mexico,” JRS director Conrado Zebeda, SJ, said during an interview for the Punto y Sequimos program broadcast by Radio Fe y Alegria Noticias.

He explained that they do not keep accurate records of Venezuelan migrants passing through the Darien Forest because not all of them reach them. “Some families travel entirely with grandparents and are cared for by other organizations,” she said.

The priest pointed out that many who cross this dangerous crossing, located between Colombia and Panama, report conditions such as extreme heat, great insecurity, fear, agony and the desire to reach..