Panama deports 130 Indian migrants under US deal

Panama has deported 130 Indian migrants on a charter flight to New Delhi – Copyright AFP MARTIN BERNETTI

Panama on Friday deported 130 illegal Indian migrants who entered the country through the inhospitable Darien jungle under a repatriation agreement struck with the United States in July.

This was the first deportation outside the US under the deal, and the fourth overall.

Washington has pledged $6 million to repatriate migrants from the Central American country, hoping to reduce the number of illegal crossings at its own southern border.

Roger Mojica, Panama’s migration director, told reporters that the Indians on a charter flight to New Delhi were deported for “irregular migration.”

At the same press conference, US Central American Security Attaché Marlen Pineiro said Washington is “very grateful to the government of Panama for all this support,” adding: “Irregular migration cannot continue.”

The Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama has become a major corridor for migrants traveling overland from South America through Central America and Mexico to the United States.

Despite the dangers, including attacks by criminal gangs, more than half a million undocumented migrants, mostly Venezuelans, crossed the Darién last year.

Transit countries like Panama and Mexico are under increasing pressure from Washington to tackle the highly contentious migration issue in a US election year.

The July agreement provides for the first phase of deportation of migrants with criminal records, but could also lead to the repatriation of anyone who enters Panama through the notoriously dangerous and rugged Darien Gap region.

It was signed on the same day that Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino took office, after a campaign in which he promised to crack down on Darien Gap border crossings.

With Friday’s deportation, Panama has expelled 219 migrants in two weeks.