Hordes of immigrants from Latin America have been pouring into the US for the past 5 days as direct refoulements were banned by the repeal of Title 42.
However, the number of people illegally crossing the US-Mexico border is much lower than what US authorities had feared as the government now implements new, very strict rules for asylum seekers.

One of the most important and deadly migration routes to US border cities is the Darien jungle, on the Panamanian-Colombian border.

This forest of 5,750,000 acres dhas no road network, it is full of mosquitoes and reptiles, but also dangerous canyons, while it is ravaged by criminal organizations.

The number of people crossing the swampy jungle has increased sixfold in the first four months of the year, according to official data from Panama, and may reach a record level this year, according to a senior UN official.

The majority of these immigrants come from Haiti, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Among the tens of thousands who risk their lives in the transition to a better life, there are thousands of children and adolescents – many unaccompanied.
Unicef ​​is sounding the alarm for these children.

“Unaccompanied children are at increased risk of falling into the hands of traffickers and criminals, and are particularly vulnerable to violence, exploitation, child labor and various forms of abuse,” said Laurent Divilier, UNICEF adviser.

“The number of people crossing the Darien jungle was higher” than last year, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clemens. “If this rate continues, we will see a record number of people crossing” this jungle, he added.

“The reasons why people take their families (…) to try to rebuild their lives elsewhere have not changed,” Clemens said, stressing that the “root causes”, including violence and political prosecutions.
In December, the UN estimated it needed $1.72 billion to help Venezuelan refugees and migrants who have fled to Latin America and the Caribbean.