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Colombia Darien Gap Migration Stalled
FILE - Migrants gather in Necocli, Colombia, a stopping point for migrants taking boats to Acandi which leads to the Darien Gap, Oct. 13, 2022. The flow of thousands of migrants daily through the migratory highway, the Darien Gap, has been cut off following the Feb. 26, 2024 capture in Necoclí of some boat captains who had been ferrying the migrants to the starting point of their jungle trek. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)

Migration through the Darien Gap is cut off following the capture of boat captains in Colombia

The flow of thousands of migrants daily through the treacherous migratory highway, the Darien Gap, has been cut off following the capture of a number of boat captains who had been ferrying the migrants to the starting point of their jungle trek

By MEGAN JANETSKY
Published - Feb 29, 2024, 04:54 PM ET
Last Updated - Feb 29, 2024, 04:54 PM EST

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The flow of thousands of migrants daily through the treacherous migratory highway, the Darien Gap, has been cut off following the capture of a number of boat captains who had been ferrying the migrants to the starting point of their jungle trek.

The stoppage began when Colombian law enforcement captured two boat captains in the northern city of Necoclí on Monday. The companies that employed them halted all transport services in protest, effectively cutting off the officially estimated 2,000 people a day that enter the jungled passage hoping to reach the United States.

It has led to a build up of as many as 8,000 people waiting to cross between Colombia and Panama, the Colombia’s Ombudsman’s Office confirmed Thursday. The office, a governmental human rights watchdog, has warned that the buildup could “overwhelm the health system, food supply, among other things."

“We can't wait until things collapse and it ends in a violation of human rights” of already vulnerable migrant populations, said Carlos Camargo Assis, the head of the office.

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