The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office warns that more than 19,000 migrants are waiting at the border to cross on their way to the United States
MADRID, 23 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The director of Migration Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinosa, has announced that he has asked Panama to increase the daily quota of migrants passing through their common border to avoid congestion in the municipality of Necoclí, in the Colombian department of Antioquia, where some 19,000 people they wait to cross.
“We made a request to Panama for the purpose of expanding the transit of 600 people who are currently allowed, to a greater number. What we seek is for this migration to leave in an organized manner to protect it, but also to protect the communities of transit and welcome, “Espinosa pointed out to the media from New York, since he is part of the Colombian delegation that has traveled to the United States, reports the local radio station La FM.
Thus, it has indicated that Colombia is “awaiting” the response from Panama and has defended the mechanism previously agreed by both countries in Necoclí, as well as it has advanced that it is working on the creation of another that “allows to solve the current situation”.
The Colombian Ombudsman’s Office has warned, for its part, that about 19,000 migrants are trapped in the aforementioned Colombian municipality, where in recent days there has been an increase in the number of people in transit.
“In the monitoring and follow-up of the migratory crisis in the municipality of Necoclí, we have been able to verify that around 19,000 migrants are being dammed in this municipality, bound for Acandí, Chocó, for their transit to the border with Panama,” he said. specifically the Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, according to the Colombian newspaper ‘El Tiempo’.
Faced with the crisis, Camargo will meet shortly with the Ibero-American Ombudsmen to seek “cooperation mechanisms to improve the situation of migrants”, since, as he has warned, some decide to cross illegally through the jungle corridor known as Tapón Darien, where they face human rights abuses and violations.
Most of the migrants who congregate in the municipality waiting to arrive in Panama to continue their journey to North America, especially to the United States, are Haitians, to which the director of Migration Colombia has denounced that the Haitian authorities are not responding to the crisis.
“They have to give an answer (…) it is very difficult what is lived with this population and they have no intention (the migrants) to return to Haiti, on the contrary, they seek to reach the United States and Canada. There is no intention to stay in Colombia and that is why it becomes an international situation, “he urged, also appealing for an international response.
Haitian migrants who have managed to cross this border have reached the border between Mexico and the United States. In the Texas city of Del Rio, where thousands of Haitians are located, images have been captured in recent days showing Border Patrol officers riding horses and chasing them, even capturing them with ties.
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