Women, men, youth and children ran back and forth to take cover from the downpour in Old Veranillo on Monday.

They were all running to the same place: the temporary shelter set up by the Venezuelan Embassy in Panama for migrants arriving from Darien or returning after having advanced to other Central American countries bound for the United States.

In the first three days, about a thousand migrants have arrived at the shelter that is in a galley.

Everyone wants to buy a plane ticket to return to Venezuela, after learning that the United States announced on October 12 a new expulsion policy for those who enter the North American country irregularly.

With the uncertainty that they must pay for the tickets, Venezuelans claim humanitarian flights from their embassy to leave, since the airlines have told them that the cost is $ 280 per ticket, an amount they do not have, and they do not want to stay in Panama.

One of those voices is Miguel Cerrano, a 30-year-old Venezuelan, who in the middle of the downpour and under a mango stick says that here not everyone has a ticket, nor the means to look for the money that allows them to pay the $ 280 in the airline.

Cerrano, who arrived yesterday morning, says he has heard how there are families who have sold houses and other belongings to send money, but everything has been in vain because the dollar in Venezuela “is very expensive.”

In his case, he said, although he was lent 4 million pesos, he still needs $60 to complete the $280. “I see the price of tickets unfair,” criticized the Venezuelan, who sees it important that airlines make exceptions for those people, who like him, have achieved a minimum figure to buy the ticket.

Far from this reality we find Antoinette, 42, who said she has had no luck in getting any financial support to buy tickets for her husband of 37 years, and their two children, 15 and 9 years old.

This Venezuelan said that she moved with her family to the Tocumen International Airport, but the only thing they got was to be sent Sunday night to the shelter in Old Veranillo.

“We ask that the flights be humanitarian so that families like mine can travel, because we cannot afford the cost of tickets,” Antoinette said with tears in her eyes and desperate because her two children have been vomiting and diarrhoea for four days.

In a similar situation is Moriangel del Carmen López, a 21-year-old Venezuelan who crossed the jungle of Darién two weeks ago and arrived at the shelter on Monday with her six-year-old son and her 21-year-old husband.

Moriangel, sitting on the side of the street while fixing some of her belongings, said she learned of U.S. immigration restrictions when they arrived in Panama.

“We know you have to pay for flight tickets and now we’re looking at how to get that money. All our families are of scarce resources and I do not know if they can help us with that money, “said the young Venezuelan.

With no way out or hope, Moriangel says his only way out will be to return to his country and see what they achieve in Venezuela, but upon his return, he said, he will return to Ecuador, where he had been for five years, because in Venezuela “you cannot survive.”

With the massive arrival of Venezuelans, the director of Migration in Panama, Samira Gozaine, clarified that groups that come back from other Central American countries must have a visa to enter Panamanian territory.

In addition, he denied that in Panama free flights are being made for the return to Venezuela, since “each person is paying for their ticket.”

Gozaine reported that Panama continues to provide humanitarian assistance to the group of Venezuelan irregular migrants who are temporarily awaiting their departure to Venezuela.

The Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, commented during a tour of the shelter that “they are managing flights for those who want to return voluntarily, and that “it is not an option for them to return along the trail of the Darien jungle.”

The Panamanian Red Cross, like several entities, began to be installed on Monday to offer first aid care to the entire population, especially children and pregnant women. They also have the service of restoring contact between family members, which consists of offering free calls, cell phone charging and Wi-Fi services for migrants to communicate with relatives in their countries of origin or destination.

Aileen Mosquera, volunteer coordinator for the Panamanian Red Cross, emphasized that most of these people have diarrhea, dehydration, fever, malnutrition, after several days in the Darien jungle.

“There are 1,200 people in the shelter. Most have the same need,” Mosquera warned.

Despite the space enabled, the conditions of the hostel are not optimal. According to Antonieta, there are already problems of overcrowding, which causes that during the day it is very hot, the bathrooms are saturated, people sleep and eat on the floor.

However, he stressed that there is more organization in terms of food because milk, rice, chicken, sandwiches with ham and cheese, fruits, water, whey, juices, cereals, cream, soap and shampoo are distributed.

“Help not only comes from international entities or organizations, but also from people from outside, such as churches, who come to give us food, clothing and a voice of encouragement in difficult times,” Antoinette said.

Reaching this shelter for many Venezuelans is a divine sign that they were able to cross the dangerous jungle of Darien alive, even as they witnessed the bodies of many left on the road.

“We have to be thankful that we have health and life, because there are some who are sick. What they left in the jungle, in Darien, dead, because I saw them,” said Junior Daniel Silva Morán, a 21-year-old Venezuelan.

For many it is not an option to move to the shelter that the Panamanian authorities installed in Chiriquí, since it would be a step in reverse of their progress to get a direct flight to Venezuela.

So far in October, 54,404 irregular migrants have entered the country, of which 39,834 are Venezuelans. Last Saturday alone, 1,223 new irregular migrants arrived.