Within the sixty-mile dense forest filled with steep mountains and boundless swamps between Columbia and Panama lies the Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world. It is the only road connecting South America to Central America, which many South Americans take to reach the United States seeking refuge and work. However, migrants face various challenges when crossing such as unreliable terrain, including diseases, extreme weather, and violence due to bandit groups that prowl the area.
Over the past couple of years, government officials and international organizations have provided temporary housing and necessities to those arriving in Panama as a way to try to help the crisis. Over the past thirty years, the number of migrants who have crossed the Darién Gap has significantly increased from 153 million migrants in 1990 to 281 million migrants in 2020 according to IOM UN migration. However, because COVID-19 restrictions have been removed, the number of migrants has skyrocketed. These migrants had faced significant pressure from political upheaval, climate change, violence, and economic instability which had caused them to leave their homes and face the horrors of the Darién Gap. Those traveling through the Darién Gap strive to reach the United States’ Southern border.
However, there have been many casualties while traveling on the Darién Gap such as rape, being robbed at gunpoint, and other forms of assault. Assailants have been known to demand for women and girls under ten years old to “take off their clothes,” so they can search their most intimate parts for cash or any other valuable items they might have on their person, according to The New York Times. Sometimes, other family members may be forced to watch these horrifying actions.
Furthermore, there are also right-wing influencers, or American activists who are interviewing the people crossing the Darién Gap, asking for their opinions on immigration. To a person being interviewed, the answers that they gave to the questionnaires might seem irrelevant, however, it is far from that.
For example, a man named Ayub Ibrahim had fled Somalia due to the Civil War traveling first through Turkey and making his way to Brazil so he could get to the United States through the Darién Gap. During his time in the San Vicente migrant camp in Panama, he describes how he was bombarded with questions by American activists. Some of the questions he was asked followed as, “Do you like [girls] like Ilhan Omar?,” the first Somali-American Muslim legislator in the United States. There were also questions asked similar to, “What do you think about Joe Biden?” Ibrahim describes how he had answered all the questions truthfully, stating how he had “admired Ms. Omar…and thinks Mr. Biden is a good president.” He also states how he had felt overwhelmed and confused, as he had not intended to make a political statement. However, it was too late. The entire conversation that he had with his interviewer was edited and posted on X. The video posted portrays Ibrahim and others as “Somali illegal aliens proclaim support for Ilhan Omar and Joe Biden inside Panama migrant camp!” This clip has now received over two million views. Essentially, videos similar to these are blaming President Biden for illegal immigration, suggesting that Democrats are supporting bringing illegal voters into the country.
Overall, many terrible things are occurring right now in the Darién Gap to people who strive for a better life. Many fundraisers are going on to help aid the people crossing at sites like The Action Against Hunger, GoFundMe, as well as The Doctors Without Borders. However, despite the number of deaths and injuries that had been caused by the Darién Gap, there is still a significant number of people who attempted to go through it which demonstrates the desperation they had been in before taking such a risk
