Map courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

There has been lots of news coverage about migration through the famously dangerous Darien Gap.  In “What is the Darien Gap? And why are more migrants risking this Latin American route to get to the US?” for The Conversation, Sara McKinnon offers a simple answers to the questions she poses in her title:

“Violence, insecurity and instability in their home countries cause many people to move. They may move to elsewhere in their region. But when the level of violence and insecurity is similar in that country, they keep moving to find a safer place to live.

Options for legally allowed immigration are increasingly limited for those in low-income countries. For example, when governments implement travel visa restrictions for certain nationalities, it impacts the options available to the people of that country for movement.

In 2021, with pressure from the United States, Mexico started requiring Venezuelans traveling to Mexico to carry travel visas. This meant that Venezuelans hoping to seek asylum in the United States could no longer first fly to Mexico as a tourist and then present themselves at the border to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent to express their fear of returning to their home country.

Venezuelans had to find another route to move, and for many, that was and continues to be irregular transit through the Darien Gap without travel documents.”

KJ