Staying behind on the Darién Gap migration route is a death sentence

Getty ImagesA Haiti family ventures across the Darién Gap

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 12:50

They carry bags full of belongings, have the youngest children strapped to their backs and traverse one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world: migrants making their way through the Darién Gap. All with only one goal in mind: eventually reaching the border with the United States.

Hundreds of migrants make the journey every day in the impenetrable jungle on the border between Colombia and Panama. They come from far and wide, months on the road before they start the very last stretch through Central America.

A Dutch camera crew from BNNVARA’s Fight or Flight walked the entire route of the Darién Gap and documented hundreds of people on their way through the jungle. “The conditions are extreme. You walk eleven, twelve hours a day at a killer pace. You don’t walk on beaten paths, but impenetrable territory,” says director Diederick Groenewoud in Nieuws en Co.

NOS There are no roads left in the area near the border between Colombia and Panama

From babies to the elderly: everyone is going up, says the program maker. Warned of the risks, but nevertheless looking for a better life. The program makers accompanied a group of about 200 migrants. Some of them are still in contact, but some have never been heard from again.

“The danger lies in fatigue, especially in mothers with children or people who are heavier and physically unable to cope. If you as an individual cannot keep up with the group, you will be left behind,” says Groenewoud. “And then you are alone. If you are alone in the jungle for a minute, you will get lost and you will be doomed.”

Now that I’m here, I know I shouldn’t have come here.

Ghanaian migrant during the grueling journey

It all starts in the Colombian town of Capurganá. “Tourists often have no idea that they are on a boat with migrants who are dropped off at the starting point,” says Groenewoud about the start of the grueling journey.

The more than 120 kilometers long route in the Darién is not only very tough because of the nature (poisonous plants, dangerous animals, heat and a lot of rain). In parts of the area there is no telephone service at all, it is difficult to get drinking water and food and, above all, the largest Colombian drug cartel Clan del Golfo rules the roost. That clan uses the routes for drug, arms and people smuggling.

Groenewoud: “If you deviate from the path and you come across a cartel member, your life is not certain. A human life there is not worth much, certainly not compared to the trade they smuggle through.”

No way back

All these dangers do not deter the migrants from embarking on the journey, even if it passes over a mountain nicknamed the ‘mountain of death’. There are no hard figures, because documenting the number of migrants is difficult, let alone counting the number of deaths. Human remains are hardly ever found in the jungle.

Getty Images

A stream of migrants travels the perilous route from Colombia to Panama

Getty Images

Migrants spend the night in a camp on the migration route in the Darién Gap

Uphill, downhill, walking on muddy paths for days on end. “It is very tough. I had heard a lot about it. But now that I am here, I know that I should not have come here,” a Ghanaian tells program maker Sahil Amar Aïssa deep in the jungle of Colombia.

There is no way back. The little money they have has already been spent on the guide and giving up on the dream is not an option. “People have often been on it for weeks before they walk this route, but we must not forget that it will also take them weeks or months to reach the ‘promised’ land,” says Groenewoud.

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