Panamanian Ombudsman warns of difficulty of vaccinating migrants in transit

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ombudsman of Panama, Eduardo Leblanc, said Thursday (29) that the vaccination against Covid-19 for migrants in transit, ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, is “important”, but warned that it is unlikely to be carried out since this population is simply passing through the country.

Leblanc explained that immunization against Covid-19 for migrants in transit “is very difficult to achieve”, since it involves two doses, and between the first and the second one, 30 days pass; but during that time “the migrant should already be in Honduras or leaving Nicaragua”.

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“In practice, it is unlikely that it can be fulfilled, not because of (reluctance of) the Panamanian State, but by the very nature of migration and the logistics involved in the vaccination,” said the head of the Ombudsman’s Office in a virtual conference.

According to the figures provided by Leblanc, there are now in Panama little more than 2,300 migrants in transit: 1,300 in the migration stations of Darien, on the border with Colombia, and another 1,072 in Gualaca, on the border with Costa Rica.

This week the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ordered Panama to guarantee access to health services for irregular migrants in shelters, including testing and treatment against Covid-19, as well as their inclusion in the vaccination program.

The director of the National Border Service (Senafront) of Panama, Oriel Ortega, recalled that “from the beginning of the pandemic,” the authorities set up a reception camp for migrants with covid”, so that they could receive the corresponding treatment and avoid the transmission of the virus.

According to official data published by the TVN channel, more than 50,000 migrants in transit had arrived in Panama since March 2020, when the pandemic began in the country, and 549 cases of covid have been detected among them.

So far this year, more than 26,000 Haitians and 6,000 Cubans, in addition to people of other nationalities, although in much smaller numbers, have arrived in Panama on their journey to North America, according to official figures.

But thousands of migrants, some 10,000 according to Colombian municipal authorities, have been stranded for more than a week on the Colombian side of the border, waiting to continue their journey to Panama.

The handling of this mass of migrants “is a concern for the Colombian authorities right now”, the director of Senafront told the local TVN channel on Thursday.

The commissioner informed that this same day he would hold a virtual meeting with the Colombian migratory authorities to share the good practices that Panama has carried out in this matter.

“Panama has great experience in moving these masses. In 2016 we had approximately 5,000 migrants daily, and it is precisely these good practices that we are going to share with them,” said Ortega.

Due to the covid-19 pandemic, Panama closed land, sea, and river borders with Colombia last May; however, as in 2020, formal closure has not stopped the flow of migrants in transit.

Most arrive through the Darien, the dangerous jungle that serves as the border between Panama and Colombia, through which thousands of people from all over the world pass every year on their way to North America, facing the dangers inherent to that ecosystem and those derived from the presence of drug and human traffickers.

The travelers, mostly entire families of Haitians, report that they are assaulted in the jungle and that their companions die there. Panamanian authorities have reported the death of at least 12 migrants on their way to the country.