Migration from South America through the dangerous Darién Gap resumes

Migration to the United States through the dangerous jungle known as the Darién Gap returned to normal on Friday, with hundreds of people from Venezuela, Ecuador and beyond entering the jungle after a lull of about five days during which migrants could not begin the trek .

The pause in this ever-increasing migration flow was the result of an arrest operation led by the Colombian prosecutor’s office, in which two captains who steered boats full of migrants into the jungle were taken into custody, where the prosecutor’s office says they remain. The office said the captains transported the individuals illegally, in part because the migrants did not have proper documentation.

The captains worked for two boat companies – Katamaranes and Caribe – that for years have played a vital role in transporting migrants from the northern Colombian community of Necoclí for about two hours across a gorge to the jungle entrance, where they then have to cross . reaching Central America and eventually the United States. The boat companies have done this openly – something extensively documented by The New York Times – and the arrests appeared to signal a change in policy by Colombian authorities.

But in retaliation for the arrests, boat companies halted transport, and the number of migrants waiting in Necoclí and another exit town, Turbo, quickly grew to several thousand people. That posed a huge challenge for both cities, which do not have the resources or infrastructure to house and feed so many people for long periods of time.

The arrests of the boat operators came after months of pressure from the United States on the Colombian government to do more to limit or stop migration through the Darién. In a recent interview, Hugo Tovar, a Colombian prosecutor, said his office, with the help of the United States, was working diligently to investigate and arrest human traffickers.

On Friday, Johann Wachter, secretary of the municipal government of Necoclí, said the boat companies decided to restart their operations after a meeting between representatives of the boat companies, local governments, Colombia’s National Migration Agency and other agencies, including someone from the U.S. Embassy. in Colombia.

At the meeting, Mr. Wachter said, representatives of Colombia’s migration agency assured boat companies that “there would be no problem” as long as the migrants they were transporting “comply with the requirements.” In this case, Mr Wachter said, any person wanting to cross the jungle would have to fill out a form on a mobile phone application called Secure Transit.

(Officials from the U.S. Embassy and Colombia’s migration agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)

The Darién jungle is the strip of land that connects South and North America. It must be crossed to get to the United States on foot from South America. Although rarely crossed, it has become a major artery for migrants in the past three years, with almost a million people risking the journey as of 2021. This has been a huge challenge for President Biden, who has seen record numbers of arrivals in the United States. southern border during his presidency.

The fallout in Necoclí from the boat companies’ decision to halt operations after just two arrests shows how difficult it is for U.S. and Colombian officials to stop the multimillion-dollar company that moves people in northern Colombia. Any attempt to stop this through law will likely have unintended consequences, including the crowding of thousands of people into poor Colombian cities unable to care for them.

Mr Wachter, for his part, called the restart of migrant transport a positive move. “Our capacity is limited,” he said, “so this gives us a lot of peace of mind.”