Mexico City, May 16, (dpa/GNA) – The UN children’s fund UNICEF on Wednesday said that more and more migrant children are attempting the life-threatening crossing of the Darién jungle between Central and South America out of necessity.
The Darién Gap is made up of mountains and swamps covered in dense tropical forest. There are no established roads and no law and order.
UNICEF on Wednesday presented a report in Panama City that showed that in the first four months of this year, more than 30,000 minors made the approximately 100-kilometre journey north through the Darién, which separates Panama from Colombia.
That is 40% more than in the same period last year. Around 2,000 of the children were unaccompanied. According to UNICEF, child migration through the Darién this year is likely to see record numbers for the fifth time in a row.
“The Darién Gap is no place for children,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban.
“Many children have died on this arduous, dangerous journey.”
Those that survive arrive at their destinations sick, hungry, dehydrated and often injured. Some children are even brought into the world by their mothers in the jungle under very difficult conditions.
The International Red Cross describes the journey through the Darién jungle – which, according to the aid organization Doctors Without Borders, takes between 3 and 15 days – as one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world.
Those who have completed it are often physically and psychologically traumatized.
The migrants are not only exposed to the dangers of the wild tropical forest. They are also often victims of violence by criminal groups and sexual assaults. More than half a million people travelled the route last year, including 113,000 children.
GNA