The US and Panama have signed an agreement to curb the flow of migration to the southern US border through the Darien Gap, the Central American government announced Monday.
Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino, who took office on Monday, told people in his first speech as president that he would seek international assistance to find solutions to what he described a costly "humanitarian and environmental crisis."
Minutes later, Mulino's new foreign minister signed a memorandum of understanding with the US to "allow the closing off of the passing of illegal immigrants through the Darien," Panama's government said.
The US agreed to "cover" the costs of repatriating migrants who enter Panama illegally, the agreement signed by US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. Mayorkas attended Mulino's inauguration.
The agreement was "designed to jointly reduce the number of migrants being cruelly smuggled through the Darien, usually en route to the United States," a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council said in a statement.
The Darien Gap, a 160-mile (257-kilometer) space between Colombia and Panama, is the only land route to the US from South America.
The perilous jungle, which just a few years ago was seen as an impassable barrier, has in recent years seen people make the trek in search of better opportunities in the US.
Bd pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
