Pope Francis has asked for a “humanitarian response” to the tragic migratory reality that is taking place in the Darién, a jungle between Panama and Colombia that thousands of people seek to cross with the aim of reaching the United States.
The Pontiff expressed his concern at the end of the Sunday Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, attended by some 22,000 faithful.
“Today I want to remember the thousands of migrants who try to cross the Darién jungle between Colombia and Panama. They are often families with children who venture down dangerous paths, deceived by those who falsely promise them a short and safe route,” she said.
Pope Francis denounced that these migrants are “mistreated and robbed” and “not a few lose their lives in that jungle.”
“We need the joint effort of the most directly affected countries and the international community to prevent this tragic reality from passing in silence and to provide a humanitarian response together,” he requested.
As reported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), citing figures from Migrations Panama, until the first week of December 500,000 people have crossed this jungle in 2023, “more than double the number of people who did so in all of 2022.”
In its article, which analyzes the migratory reality in Latin America, MSF warns that “the more people migrating and the less adequate institutional response, the humanitarian crisis worsens.”
In the case of minors, the manager of migration as a development factor of Unicef, Catalina Duarte, stated a RCN News that it is estimated that “about 50,000 children have crossed the Darién.”