The ‘luxury route’ to the US for African migrants

With record numbers of people entering the United States, the southern border isn’t the only place where the migration crisis is playing out.

Nearly two thousand miles south, at Colombia’s main international airport, hundreds of African migrants are pouring in every day, paying traffickers about $10,000 for flight packages they hope will help them reach the United States.

The wave of African migrants at Bogotá airport that began last year is a vivid example of the impact of one of the largest global people movements in decades and how it is changing migration patterns.

With some African countries facing economic crisis and political unrest, and Europe cracking down on immigration, many more Africans are making the much longer journey to the US.

The migrants in Bogotá mainly come from West African countries such as Guinea, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone, although some come from as far away as Somalia.

They are heading to Nicaragua, the only country in Central America where citizens from many African countries – as well as Haiti, Cuba and Venezuela – can enter without a visa. Experts say the country’s President Daniel Ortega has relaxed visa requirements in recent years to force the United States to lift sanctions on his authoritarian government.

To reach Nicaragua, migrants embark on a journey of several stops, flying to hubs such as Istanbul and then to Colombia, where many fly to El Salvador and then Nicaragua. (There are no direct flights between Colombia and Nicaragua). Once there, they head north again, overland, towards Mexico and the American border.

The trip, dubbed “the luxury route” by airline officials, bypasses the dangerous jungle pass connecting South and North America, the Darién Gap.

Last year, 60,000 Africans entered Mexico en route to the United States, compared with fewer than 7,000 the year before, Mexican authorities reported. (Overall, exceedances at the southern border have declined early this year, but such ebbs are not uncommon and can be influenced by season and other factors.)

Among those who recently disembarked a flight from Istanbul at Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport was 24-year-old Djelikha Camara, who had studied engineering in Guinea but said she wanted to leave because a military coup in 2021 country into crisis.

She had seen the transatlantic trip advertised on social media, she said, and thought, “I want to try it.”

A daily flight from Istanbul to Bogotá, on Turkish Airlines, has become the most popular route for African migrants trying to reach Nicaragua, airline officials say. But other transatlantic routes – from Spain and Morocco, with stops in Colombia or Brazil – have also grown enormously. Officials say travel agents in Africa buy tickets in bulk and then resell them for a profit.

They advertise online, including in WhatsApp groups like the one in Guinea with thousands of members called ‘Let’s Leave the Country’.

Colombian migration director Carlos Fernando García said large numbers of Africans showed up at Bogotá airport last spring after the government suspended transit visa requirements for citizens of several African countries to boost tourism.

According to migration data, more than 56,000 people from Africa traveled through Colombia in 2023. Authorities would not provide data from previous years, but immigrant groups say last year’s figure is a huge increase and is largely fueled by migrants.

Although flying is less dangerous than traversing unforgiving jungle, migrants at Bogotá airport have also faced trials.

Some had to wait days after arrival for connecting flights. Others have been stranded after discovering that El Salvador, the next country on their itinerary, charges people from Africa a $1,130 transit fee.

The airport has no beds or showers for migrants. The only food and water is sold in expensive cafes.

There have been flu outbreaks. A woman went into labor. In December, two African children were found in a bathroom after being abandoned by travelers who were not their parents.

Mr García said airlines are responsible for passengers at the airport between flights, not the government. “They are private companies that are failing in their duty,” he said. “In their haste to make money, they leave passengers behind.

Turkish Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.

Avianca, a Colombian airline that operates several routes used by African migrants heading to Nicaragua, said it was obliged to carry passengers who met travel requirements.

At Bogotá airport, migrants are largely kept out of sight of other passengers.

Mouhamed Diallo, 40, a journalist who taught university courses in Guinea’s capital Conakry, said he spent two days in the arrivals hall before being allowed to enter the departure area on the day of his next flight to San Salvador, El Salvador .

“I found someone who left yesterday,” he said. “He was there for 12 days.”

Many Africans who use this route are trained professionals like Mr. Diallo, with siblings in the United States and Europe who help pay for their tickets.

Mr Diallo said he left Guinea because he felt unsafe after the military coup. He is Fulani, the country’s majority ethnic group, and supported an opposition leader who had gone into exile, he said.

“Your leader goes out, you go out,” he said. “If you don’t, you’ll end up in jail.”

Some migrants are stuck at the airport.

Kanja Jabbie, a former police officer from Sierra Leone, said he paid $10,000 to travel to Nicaragua. But he only learned of the transit fee El Salvador demands after arriving in Colombia.

He had no cash, he said, and couldn’t get it. There is no place to receive money through the terminal, or even an ATM

“I’m stuck,” said Mr Jabbie, 46, who wandered the terminal for three days and survived on tea.

The fee, which El Salvador imposed last fall and called it an “airport improvement fee,” is one of the main causes of the passenger backlog at Bogotá airport, according to aviation officials. Nicaragua also charges a smaller fee for people from Africa. Neither government responded to a request for comment.

The area around Gate A9, where flights to San Salvador depart daily, is filled with migrants.

People sleep in a corner, or kneel during Muslim prayers, using airplane blankets. Laundry hanging on luggage.

One afternoon in January, a pregnant woman from Guinea sat at the gate. When asked why she left, she produced a photo showing her face, badly beaten. She pulled back a sleeve, revealing a scar.

“I’m here to save my life – my life and my baby. I am hiding from my husband,” said the woman, who asked that only her first initial, T, be used for her safety. “Hopefully I can reach the US”

She had arrived in Bogotá four days earlier. Her Avianca flight to El Salvador left that day, but she was turned away.

“I don’t know why,” she said.

Airport and airline officials who said they were not authorized to speak publicly said passengers sometimes complained about migrants being unable to bathe for days.

In response, Avianca cabin crew repeat the company motto: “The air belongs to everyone.”

Migrants often fall ill after being trapped a short distance away, airline workers say, and some appear vulnerable. Last spring, a man from Mauritania died of a heart attack during a flight from Madrid to Bogotá.

Since December, when the two migrant children were left behind at the airport, Colombian authorities have taken a tougher stance.

Airlines are required to verify that children are traveling with adults who are their parents, and Colombian authorities are urging them to only allow onboard people who have a connecting flight within 24 hours.

Migration officials have also started rounding up migrants whose tickets have expired, who are stuck at the airport for more than a day or who come from a handful of African countries for which Colombia still requires a transit visa. They put them on flights back to Istanbul.

Among them was Mr. Jabbie, the police officer from Sierra Leone.

At least one episode turned violent. This month, three women from Cameroon resisted and were dragged screaming through the airport by migration officials and police and repeatedly hit with a Taser, they said.

“If we collapse, they will put us on a plane,” said Agnes Foncha Malung, 29.

Ms Malung, who braids for a living, decided to leave her home country with two friends, she said, after the homes of some relatives were set on fire during clashes between English- and French-speaking factions in Cameroon.

The women were held at Bogotá airport for several days due to what migration authorities told them were visa problems before they were deported.

Speaking by phone from Cameroon, Ms Malung said the three shared a rented room until they figured out their next move.

She said she paid $11,500 for the trip. “It cost me a lot,” she says.

Migration authorities did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the incident.

Yet many African migrants have managed to reach the United States. Mr. Diallo, the journalist, arrived at New York’s La Guardia Airport — his ninth airport in 17 days — on a cold January day.

He had traveled through Central America and Mexico in smugglers’ vehicles, he said, and spent all night in Arizona before being picked up by U.S. Border Patrol and seeking asylum.

After being released with a date at immigration court, he traveled to the Bronx to join his brother. He has been staying in his cramped apartment, he said, and helping out in his convenience store.

When asked if he would let his wife and children follow the same route, Mr Diallo replied: “No, never.”

“Never in my life,” he added. “I have traumatism.”

Reporting was contributed by Genevieve Glatsky And Federico Rios from Bogotá, Colombia; Ruth Maclean from Dakar, Senegal; Mady Camara from Dakar, Senegal; And Safak Timur from Istanbul. Simon Posada contributed research from Bogotá.