“It’s just business”: forced migration through the Darién Gap

Q24N – by Mark Green* – Every day, Venezuelans fleeing poverty and oppression gather in small groups to begin the long, arduous trek north toward freedom and a better life. It’s a dangerous and demanding journey, but their desperation keeps them going.

They are joined along the way by refugees and migrants from Haiti, China, Afghanistan and some 30 other countries. Many of them — some 238,000 since the beginning of the year — will attempt to cross the Darién Jungle (or Gap) as part of that journey. The Darién River straddles the border between Colombia and Panama and is one of the most treacherous stretches of jungle in the world.

When I recently traveled to Panama and Costa Rica, two key partners in our response to the crisis of forced displacement, I got a small taste of how demanding this journey can be for these families. But I also saw how it will be expensive, very expensive, for many of those who fled their home countries with little money and possessions.

– Advertisement –

What I learned from the trip and the conversations there is that if we are ever going to address the tragedy of forced migration in America, we have to ask ourselves what these families are being forced to pay and who is taking their money.

Forced displacement in the region is a business, big business. To navigate the Darién, smugglers and traffickers will demand that migrants and refugees pay $300 or more per person, including for babies and young children. Traffickers lure families with promises of a smooth, quick journey. In reality, the four- to seven-day journey will take them through horribly difficult terrain and leave them vulnerable to crimes like theft and assault anywhere along the route.

When and if they reach the rainforest, they’re met by villagers who seat them—for $10 each—on wooden canoes that ferry them upriver to a temporary shelter (known as an ETRM), like the one I visited in Lajas Blancas, Panama. To keep things moving, villagers call the ETRM ahead of time as the canoes leave so they know how many canoes and travelers are coming. At the center, officials register the migrants and refugees, provide medical care, give them access to food and water, and give them a place to sleep for a night or so.

Starting with the ETRM, travelers will be charged $60 per person (up from $40 last year) to travel safely through Panama on private buses to their next stop, another humanitarian center near the Costa Rican border. After a brief rest, they’ll board another set of private buses—at $30 a seat—to cross into Costa Rica and into humanitarian facilities near the Nicaraguan border. There, Nicaraguan officials will require each migrant to pay about $150 to enter the country and continue their journey.

In other words, as they travel from South to Central America toward the United States, migrants and refugees from Venezuela, China, Afghanistan, and elsewhere are paying villagers, bus owners, criminal gangs, and the regime of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega. Some of the fees are modest, like the $10 canoe ride, but others are not, and they add up to huge profits for shady actors. After all, more than 900,000 people passed through the Darién region from 2021 to 2023, according to Panamanian authorities.

Why are governments like Panama and Costa Rica willing to host humanitarian centers and allow villagers and bus owners to participate in the migration process? Helping migrants and refugees access humanitarian aid is a moral imperative for these two close U.S. partners. Allowing migrants and refugees to communicate with officials minimizes the role of gangs and other bad actors in their countries. By routing travelers through the centers, officials can identify infectious diseases and other risks.

– Advertisement –

But no one believes the current framework is a sustainable response to the challenges posed by mass displacement. Nor does it make migration risk-free for the region. In recent weeks, officials have intercepted individuals linked to terrorist organizations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Some answers are obvious: we must confront regimes in Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and elsewhere that treat their people so brutally that ordinary people are willing to undertake this journey through one of the most treacherous regions on earth.

But we must also tackle the big business and the big profits that this kind of migration creates. We all see the bad actors making dirty money from the misery of the poor and vulnerable – money that is unregulated, untaxed and in breach of sanctions. Raising awareness and building partnerships against forced migration should be a diplomatic priority in our dealings with every government and in every public forum.

If we don’t do that, how are we any different from Marlon Brando’s Don Corleone in The Godfather? As he liked to put it, “It ain’t personal. It’s just business.” We’ll never succeed if we don’t make it personal.

– Advertisement –

*Ambassador Mark Andrew Green, President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, served as USAID Administrator from 2017 to 2020 and as U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania from mid-2007 to early 2009. He previously served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin’s 8th District. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the Wilson Center. Follow him on X: @AmbassadorGreen.

Related

– Advertisement –