The US supports Colombia and Panama in the campaign against migration

Police forces of Panama and Colombiawith the support of the United States, will conduct a campaign in the Darien jungle, a natural border between the two countries, to stop the illegal crossing of migrants, a White House official reported this Friday.

The actions are part of a plan announced by the three governments in the capital of Panama on Tuesday, one of the goals of which is to combat “human trafficking” in the region, which has been crossed this year by more than 100,000 migrants on their way to NOW.

While not many details have been given about the steps governments will take to achieve their goal, special assistant to President Joe Biden, Katie Tobin, assured this Friday that the work will be “police effort” led by the governments of Colombia and Panama.

“The US will provide support (…) including planning, logistics, transportation and information and intelligence sharing, and we will mobilize the human resources we already have on the ground in both countries”Tobin said in an interview with reporters.

The official added that in addition to supporting police efforts in Darién, the U.S. will also seek to expand “legal ways” migration and increase “humanitarian support” to Panama and Colombia.

Experts were consulted EFE They expressed concern about the impact this police campaign could have on the area.

“I am concerned that efforts to target smugglers will also lead to persecution of migrants, who may be forced to return to more precarious situations than the ones they left.” in countries of origin, said Yael Schacher, Americas director of Refugees International.

Adam Isaacson, director of defense oversight, agrees office in Washington for Latin American Affairs (WOLA), who believes that a police strategy that does not focus on seeking out criminal groups could make the problems worse.

“If the goal is to gather and keep thousands of migrants (…) migrants will continue to arrive, only they will change routes again, perhaps going deeper into the jungle”said the expert.

Darien is the gateway to Central America from the south of the American continent and serves as a gateway for thousands of migrants from countries around the world who travel by land to the United States.

This year, the migration crisis in the region has worsened: so far in 2023, more than 100,000 people have crossed the jungle, a historic figure described as “an alarming increase” by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

These new measures are part of a series of actions that Biden’s government is preparing for a possible surge in migration to the US when the controversial Title 42, the regulation that allows hot returns at the border, is repealed on May 11.

Among them is the implementation of a new rule that will prevent those who cross the border illegally or do not request protection in other countries they have passed through before, from using that protection in NOW

Title 42, implemented by the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump (2017-2021), has been retained and expanded by the current administration to allow the deportation of migrants from Mexico Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua.

Since it entered into force in 2020. The regulations have allowed more than 2.5 million migrant expulsions, according to the International Rescue Committee.