Panama deports 29 Colombian migrants on first US-funded repatriation flight

(CNN) — Panama on Tuesday carried out its first migrant deportation flight funded by the United States, part of a widening effort to reduce the number of migrants traveling north through the region.

Twenty-nine Colombians were deported from Panama City to Medellín, Colombia, according to Panama’s Deputy Security Minister Luis Felipe Icaza.

The deportees boarded the plane early in the morning with cuffs around their hands and ankles, escorted by authorities from Panama’s migration agency. The agency’s chief Roger Mojica said many of those on board had criminal records in Colombia. One of them was a member of the Clan del Golfo criminal organization, Icaza alleged.

The deportation flight was carried out after the US and Panama signed a memorandum of cooperation on July 1 to reduce the number of migrants crossing Panama without permission, on their way to the US.

During a press conference on the repatriation flights Tuesday, US Department of Homeland Security official Marlen Piñeiro urged migrants to stop trekking through the treacherous Darién jungle between Panama and Colombia to reach the US, saying, “For us, the message we’re sending is clear: Darién is not a route.”

Last month, Panama placed barbed wire across several routes in the Darién jungle in a bid to block the northward route.

So far this year, more than 230,000 people have entered Panama through the Darién jungle from Colombia. And so far in August, more than 8,000 have passed through. These figures would represent a decrease of 30% compared to the same period from January to August 2023, according to Mojica.

For now, Panama is only carrying out deportation flights to Colombia, Mojica said.

He added that Panama is working on coordinating flights to other countries such as Ecuador and India, but not to Venezuela – where economic devastation and an authoritarian government have driven out more people than anywhere else in the region.

Icaza said more flights are expected in the days ahead, with the next taking off as soon as Friday.

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