Panama sounds 'alarm' to US over increase in Haitian migrants, warns of next influx

Panama Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes has warned that as many as 60,000 migrants, including mostly Haitian are heading towards the United States-Mexico border. The impromptu camp in the Texas town of Del Rio witnessed a drastic surge of migrants, mainly from Haiti and still waiting to be picked up by the authorities earlier this month. However, US President Joe Biden administration under bipartisan criticism for the “chaos” that resulted from “failure to enforce immigration laws and halt illegal crossings.”

As per an Axios report, the Panama Foreign minister also cast doubt on the Biden administration being caught unaware by the Haitian migrant crisis. She also emphasised that the government had “sounded the alarm when we should have." Mouynes said, "We've engaged with every single authority that we can think of, that we can come across, to say, 'Please, let's pay attention to this.’”

Mouynes noted that the dramatic surge of migrants

The Panama official also noted that more than 85,000 migrants have passed through the country since January and most of them were Haitians. Out of which, around 25,000 were already reaching their destination and entering the United States. Mouynes even cited government estimates to state that nearly 27,000 migrants are planning to cross this month through the Darien Gap which is the mountainous region without roads connecting North and South America. The minister stressed that the number of migrants this time was more than in all of 2019. 

“Let's recognize that they all are heading toward the US,” she said. Reportedly, Panama is the place where the migrants from nearby countries often receive their first assistance in the forms of medical care, food and shelter. The minister was also quoted by Axios as saying, “When we receive them on the Panamanian side, they're malnourished. The children are in terrible condition, so even getting them up to a healthy state takes time.”

Mouynes also called on the United States to cooperate with other nations in the region to enforce a strategy and deal with the migrant challenges. She has also met with US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and members of Congress in Washington on Monday and Tuesday. Welcoming the increased support for Haitians, Mouynes said, “We all have a role to play in this issue, and the regional approach is the correct approach. It is impossible for Panama to solve it on its own.”

IMAGE: AP