Panama’s Role in Regional Migration Management

The issue brief shares key findings and recommendations from a CDA mission to the Republic of Panama, through which an estimated 140,000 refugees and migrants transited in 2021 in an attempt to reach North America. CDA’s objective was to understand how Panama is contending with the challenges arising from this unprecedented number of people transiting  through the country, after emerging from the jungle of the Darién Gap, a journey fraught with violence and hardship including robbery, sexual violence, and death. The brief details recommendations for addressing humanitarian need at Panama’s borders; addressing violence in the Darién Gap; supporting Panama to welcome and integrate refugees and migrants; and providing humanitarian aid along the migratory route.