The Us Will Pay For Migrants' Flights Out Of Panama To Close A Route Used By Over 700,000 People To Reach The Us-mexico Border

Migrants arrive to Bajo Chiquito village, the first border control of the Darién Province in Panama, on September 22, 2023.LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty ImagesThe US is trying to shut down the Darién Gap, a land route used by thousands to reach its borders.It's paying for migrants' repatriation out of Panama in exchange for the latter closing the corridor.Hundreds of thousands of migrants pass through Panama on their way to the US from South America.The US has agreed to fund repatriation for people who entered Panama illegally in exchange for the latter shutting down a main corridor for migrants traveling by land to the US-Mexico border."This program will help the Panamanian government to remove foreign nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in Panama," the Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement on Monday.The funding will involve the US paying for flights out of Panama and "supporting training and capacity building to strengthen and institutionalize safe, humane repatriation processes," the statement said.The amount allocated to these flights, provided by the State Department, was not announced.Migrants arrive at the Reception Center for Migrant Care in Lajas Blancas, in the jungle province of Darien, Panama, on June 28, 2024.MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty ImagesThe Associated Press reported that the new deal will see the US paying for charter and commercial flights to return migrants to their home countries.It cited two senior administration officials who were not named, who also said Panama would choose who is repatriated based on its laws.This agreement, signed by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, comes as Panama inaugurates its new president, José Raúl Mulino.It will see Panama closing off the Darién Gap, a treacherous stretch of rainforest that at least 520,000 migrants walked through in 2023 on their way north.