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Children’s Journey through the Darien Gap
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Dear colleagues,
In recent years, the Darien Gap has become one of the most dangerous routes for those seeking the American dream. On this exhausting journey through a 100-kilometer-long tropical jungle, marking the border between Colombia and Panama, hundreds of children face severe threats, from the hostile jungle itself to sexual violence and torture. It’s a pilgrimage marked by frightening dangers.
The Darien Gap is one of the most important routes for irregular migration globally. In the first quarter of this year alone, 250,000 people have taken this passage, with more than 500,000 doing the same in 2023. Among them, approximately 113,000 were children. The journey starts in the Colombian-Caribbean tourist town of Necoclí, where migrants cross the Gulf of Urabá to Capurgana by boat. The area is under the control of the paramilitary group Clan del Golfo. This is one of the largest criminal organizations in Colombia, where drug trafficking, extortion, and in recent years, human trafficking, are its main activities.
By the end of 2023, 3000 unaccompanied minors had been reported crossing the Gap. In addition to the dangers of the jungle, such as injuries, dehydration, diseases, fungi, and infections, they face violence from armed groups. Encountering these groups, which demand payment to allow passage to Panama, is often more frightening than the jungle itself. Migrants who refuse to pay risk being killed, tortured, or raped, and in this fearful scenario, many children have been victims of sexual violence and torture.
Lorenny Zambrano told Deutsche Welle that she had to cover the eyes of her three daughters seven times “We walked for four days in the jungle, where we saw dead people and decomposing bodies. Armed men demanded $100 from us and threatened to take the children. When we said we had no money, they threatened to rape one of our girls.” Nadia Nadina, a migrant from Congo, said, “The bandits took everything from us, money, documents, we lost it all.” Even though this route is often called Hell, Lorenny said she would do it again, her dream is to reach the USA and work to buy a house for her girls.
Every day, migrants arrive to the area, mainly from Venezuela, but also from countries like Afghanistan, African nations such as Somalia and Congo, and recently also from China. However, minors from Latin American families are the majority of those seeking for a better future. They often come from Ecuador, Peru, and Haiti, countries affected by deep poverty, increasing inequality, political instability, and general uncertainty.
Several humanitarian organisations and international agencies are working to assist children crossing the Darien Gap by providing them with emergency aid. UNICEF emphasizes the need for increased efforts, greater focus on migration policies for children, and a more robust humanitarian response for the entire region. This includes specialised healthcare services adapted to children’s age and needs.
Given the ongoing migration situation, it is absolutely crucial that the international community does not turn its back on these vulnerable children. In a global context where children’s rights are constantly threatened or violated, increasing humanitarian assistance and psychosocial support for children who have experienced trauma and violence is vital. This is essential for boys and girls to have good conditions for growing up. We must not ignore these children; on the contrary, we must advocate for them, demand government action, and increase humanitarian efforts to protect them.
Further reading
Globally, approximately 43.3 million children have been displaced due to conflict and violence. This figure encompasses around 17.5 million child refugees and asylum seekers, along with an estimated 25.8 million children displaced within their own country as a result of violence and conflict.
How the Treacherous Darien Gap Became a Migration Cross...
2023Human Rights Watch
Movement in and through the Darien Gap is not entirely new. Panamanian authorities have been tracking some migrant arrivals since 2010, and there are recorded cases of crossings more than a decade prior. However, until 2021 the numbers of people cros...
Symptoms of PTSD and Depression among Central American ...
2016MDPI
These new migrants face numerous challenges to mental health, increased psychopathological risk exacerbated by high levels of violence and low state-capacity in their countries of origin, restrictive immigration policies, the fear of deportation for ...
Supporting Unaccompanied Migrant Children at Every Stag...
Kids In Need of Defence (KIND)
Returning children face many challenges including settling back into their families; re-enrolling in school; healing from trauma they may have experienced before, during, or after migration; and obtaining the resources to plan for a safer, brighter f...
Mental health of refugees and migrants: risk and protec...
2023WHO
The publication focuses on the mental health needs of refugees and migrants by providing an overview of the available evidence on patterns of risk and protective factors and of facilitators and barriers to care at all levels (individual, family, comm...
Strengths and Resilience Among Central American Parents...
2023Sage Journals
This study examined the experiences of immigrant parents seeking asylum in the United States after recently fleeing the Northern Triangle region of Central America, attending both to the traumatic events and the strengths that mitigate this experienc...
Persistence of Emotional Distress in Unaccompanied Migr...
2023National Library of Medicine
In the US, unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents (hereinafter referred to as children) are predominantly from Central America’s Northern Triangle. While unaccompanied migrant children are at high risk for psychiatric sequelae due to complex ...
Research on Child Migration and Displacement in Latin A...
2024Olivia Bueno, UNICEF
Although migration has been a longstanding fact of life in Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of children affected by migration, including both children migrating and residing in host communities, is increasing. UNICEF estimates that 3.5 mil...
Child migration through the Darien Gap up 40 per cent s...
2023UNICEF
Child migration through the jungle of the Darien Gap has become a protracted crisis. Based on the trends observed in the first four months and the regional context, it is estimated that 800,000 people, including 160,000 children and adolescents, coul...
Resilience and protective factors among refugee childre...
2019European Journal of Public Health
Refugee children face numerous adverse experiences both pre and post-migration, including traumatic events, travelling long distances under dangerous circumstances, complex legal procedures and hostile refugee policies in the host country, social, cu...
The situation for children in Europe and Central Asia
2024UNICEF
Europe and Central Asia has experienced tremendous change since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago. The 22 countries and territories in the region where UNICEF has Country and Programme Offices have seen rapid transformation of their ...
Asylum-seekers, though not a homogeneous group, are vulnerable due to displacement, persecution, and exposure to violence. Their mental health risks increase due to extreme conditions, forced migration, personal loss, and unfamiliar environments. Stricter asylum policies can further worsen their mental well-being during the screening process.
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