A record 400,000 migrants have risked crossing the dangerous Darién jungle this year to get to the U.S, triggering a humanitarian crisis and creating additional pressure on border officials.

The current situation: The Darién jungle is a treacherous stretch of land between South America and Central America. Despite attempts to curb migrant movement, crossings have spiked to an all-time high.
* Migrants often arrive exhausted and dehydrated in Bajo Chiquito, a small Indigenous village in Panama, after several days of walking across the rainforest.
* Bajo Chiquito, often the first stop for U.S.-bound migrants, lacks adequate resources with only three laptops to process large crowds, causing migrants to wait for days to get registered.

Impacting factors: The increase in crossings has been attributed to changes in asylum seeking routes and deteriorating conditions in countries like Venezuela, Ecuador, and Haiti.
* Previously, many migrants would fly to Mexico before going to the U.S. However, Mexico’s enforcement of visa requirements since last year has made it challenging for most migrants and asylum-seekers to bypass the challenging route through the Darién jungle.
* A U.S.-backed deal with Colombia and Panama to end illegal activities along this migration route did not decrease the number of crossings.

Humanitarian concerns: The influx of migrants has overwhelmed regional governments and raised humanitarian concerns, with a quarter of the migrants being children and many others being victims of crime along the way.
* Doctors Without Borders, for example, treated 216 women and girls who were sexually assaulted on the route in the first six months of this year.

By the numbers: The number of crossings escalated from 130,000 primarily Cubans and Haitians in 2021, to 248,000 including Venezuelans and Ecuadorians in 2022.
* This increase is due to additional visa restrictions in Mexico, limiting the use of safer routes to the U.S.
* The situation is causing a security risk to Panama and a state of emergency in neighboring Costa Rica.

What next: The Biden administration opened three regional processing centers in Colombia in June where asylum-seekers could apply for permits to fly to the U.S.
* However, the centers are slow to process applications, with only 411 individuals from Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti admitted intoo the U.S. as refugees in July and August.

Moving forward: Despite efforts to curb the migration, around 2,000 people continue to pass through the village of Bajo Chiquito each day, suggesting that the number of people crossing the Darién will continue to rise unless safer options are provided.

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