Even before COVID, myself and PNO, wanred EX-PATS ( in particular those along the border of Darien) on the increasing number of Venezuelans trying to enter the country illegally into Panama. Granted they are doing so to flee the autocratic and totalian rule of a fractured government, it remains a concern today nonetheless. 

http://elsiglo.com.pa/internacional/alerta-aumento-venezolanos-intentan-cruzar-istmo-panama/24197166

These Venezuelans, along with other migrants, “are in increasing numbers trying to cross dangerous border crossings

 The number of Venezuelans who have tried to cross the Darién Pass, which links Panama with Colombia and the rest of South America, has increased in the first two months of 2022 to more than 2,500, a number that is similar to the 2,800 registered in all the year 2021, United Nations agencies warned today.

These Venezuelans, along with other migrants, “are in increasing numbers trying to cross dangerous border crossings, such as the Darien jungles, in search of a safe place,” the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a joint statement. ) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The organizations warn of a growing tendency to emigrate to the north, as the host countries of Venezuelan refugees and migrants begin to suffer with greater intensity the socioeconomic impact of the covid pandemic, indicated IOM and UNHCR.

In January and February, the total number of migrants and asylum seekers of all nationalities identified in the Darién tripled, from 2,928 in the same period in 2021 to 8,456 in 2022, including 1,367 minors.

The Darién area, with its many rivers, jungles and complicated terrain, is also an area of ​​activity for armed groups, some of whom take up to ten days to cross, “reaching remote indigenous communities who are hungry, dehydrated, exhausted and in need of care.” medical”, warn the UN agencies.

Last year, a record number of 133,000 people tried to reach Central America through this route, mostly Haitians, although there were also a significant number of Cubans and Venezuelans, as well as African migrants and even from as far away as Bangladesh or Uzbekistan.

In 2021, at least 51 people disappeared or died on that route, the IOM and UNHCR statement said.

More than six million Venezuelans have left their country as a result of the political and economic crisis in recent years, most of them sheltered in Latin American countries.