Migrants Relocated to Panama’s Darien Region
PANAMA CITY – A group of migrants recently deported from the United States to Panama were relocated Tuesday night from a hotel in the capital to the Darien jungle region in the south, according to a lawyer representing one of the migrant families.
Susana Sabalza, a Panamanian immigration attorney, stated that the family under her legal representation was transferred to Meteti, a town in the Darien, along with several other deported migrants.
According to local newspaper La Estrella de Panama, 170 out of the 299 migrants who had been staying in the hotel were moved to the Darien. However, Panama’s government has not issued an official response regarding these reports.
The 299 migrants were temporarily housed in a hotel in Panama City under the supervision of local authorities, with financial assistance from the United States via the International Organization for Migration and the UN refugee agency, as per the Panamanian government.
Panama’s President, Jose Raul Mulino, stated that the deported individuals include nationals from Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. His administration has agreed to accept non-Panamanian deportees under an arrangement with the United States.
This initiative aligns with the Trump administration’s broader strategy to increase deportations of individuals residing unlawfully in the U.S. However, a key challenge to this effort is that some migrants originate from nations that refuse to accept deportation flights from the U.S., often due to diplomatic tensions or other political concerns.
