Q24N (EFE) Panama received 119 migrants of “the most diverse nationalities in the world” deported from the United States yesterday to later return them on flights paid for by the United States to their countries of origin, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino reported Thursday.
The president also confirmed that the country will be used as a “bridge” for these returns from the North American nation.
“Through a cooperation program with the United States Government, requested by them, yesterday a flight of the United States Air Force arrived at Hogwarts airport (known as Panama Pacific, on the outskirts of Panama City) with 119 people of the most diverse nationalities in the world,” said Mulino.
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The Panamanian president, who made these statements during his weekly press conference, explained that the migrants “come from the US, crossing the border with Panama,” and will be “temporarily housed in a local hotel and from there they will move to a kind of shelter in San Vicente (in the province of Darien).”
“We hope to get them out of there (Darien) as soon as possible through flights from the United States,” said Mulino, who emphasized that this logistics is “organized and paid for by the International Organization for Migration” and “not by the Government of Panama.”
In one of the urban areas of Darien, a province bordering Colombia, there is an airstrip used by the Panamanian security forces.
“Two more flights” are expected with migrants from the U.S.
At the same time, he pointed out that in that “first flight” there were 119 migrants “and it is expected that once the other two flights are completed we will reach a common number of 360 people.”
Mulino did not give further details of the migrants who arrived in Panama yesterday, but he did list some of the nationals as “China, Pakistan, Afghanistan.”
On February 2, Mulino proposed to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, during his official visit to the country, amid tensions over the Panama Canal, to strengthen cooperation in the deportation of migrants since both countries have maintained an agreement since last July to return passers-by who have crossed the dangerous Darien jungle on flights paid for by the North American country.
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Since Donald Trump came to power in the United States, immigration policies have been tightened with raids on the streets, since in January his administration issued an order that allows immigration authorities to carry out these raids in schools, churches and hospitals after revoking a directive from his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden (2021-2025), which established a series of “protected areas” where they were prohibited.
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