Bogota,Colombia | AFP | Monday 10/10/2022 – 20:53 UTC-3 | 232 words
At least 10,000 migrants bound for the United States are blocked in a port in northern Colombia, local media reported Monday.
The human rights defender of the municipality of Necoclí, Wilfrido Menco, told the newspaper El Tiempo that the migrants are imprisoned waiting for boats to take them to the border with Panama, to continue their journey.
"At this time the tickets"necessary to go by sea to the border town of Acandí, "they are sold out"said the person in charge.
Last week, the Panamanian Security Minister, Juan Pino, assured AFP that the number of migrants who arrived in his territory in 2022 through the Colombian-Panamanian Darién jungle broke the historical record.
So far this year, at least 160,000 migrants have passed through there, exposing themselves to armed groups and wild animals that inhabit that area. Of these, almost three quarters are Venezuelans, according to official figures from Panama.
Menco reported the increase in foreigners in Necoclí, a population of about 45,000 inhabitants.
"About 2,500 migrants arrive daily, mostly Venezuelans. We have seen that every 4 hours about 15 buses arrive" that take them to the port, he added.
Colombia is part of the migrant route to the north of the continent. Haitians, Cubans, Africans and Asians also cross the Darien on foot.
