Migrants from Haiti, Congo, Bangladesh and Yemen, who were traveling to seek a better life in the United States and Canada, are now quarantined for more than 50 days in Panama and take refuge in an official government migration post in the small town of La Peaita, near Panama’s border with Colombia, their movement stopped by the closure of borders and fears that they will bring COVID-19.
The stage fits more and more precarious every day. Migrants sleep on mats in crowded resorts where they are located without being able to socially distance the or wash their hands while facing shortages of food, water and other essentials.
La Peaita’s 1,724 migrants arrived after a grueling journey, men, women and young people walked 4 to 7 days along the Tapon du Darién, a vast tropical and mountainous domain on the Panama-Colombia border. The rainforest pits others against risks such as insects that can invade and bite, venomous snakes, and human predators that fly, rape, and murder.
Before the pandemic, migrants spent about a week in those official stations. The Government of Panama verified their iris identity and fingerprint scanners, and performed medical examinations on them, adding vaccines, before migrants continued their journey northward. so that borders are reopened.
Several UN agencies are working with the Government of Panama to meet the fundamental wishes of these migrants while mitigating their threat of COVID-19. UN agencies come with UNICEF, UNHCR and IOM, which specialize in child welfare, refugees and migration.
UNICEF, through its WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) programme, provides blank water to migrants and others in villages near the cities. His paintings are essential to prevent gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases, especially in children. Of the few effective defenses that oppose COVID-19, blank water and soap are in fact an important intervention. Additional materials essential to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, such as masks, disinfectant gel and paper towels, are provided through UNHCR to station organizers.
UN agencies have also expanded food deliveries to migrants in resorts, adding special food for babies and offering hygiene kits with soap, diapers, sanitary towels, toothpaste and paper.
IOM and UNHCR provide shelters for migrants, adding tents and transitional accommodation, and during their stay in these migrant posts, others fleeing persecution receive assistance in asylum.
In his policy note, entitled “COVID-19 and People on the Move,” Secretary-General Guterres describes some of the demanding situations faced by migrants, displaced persons and refugees, as well as imaginable responses to mitigating the disruptions they face.
“The COVID-19 crisis is an opportunity to reinvent human mobility,” he said, thanking “countries, especially emerging countries, who have opened their borders and hearts to refugees and migrants, despite their own problems. social, economic and social “. now challenges. They will offer a moving lesson to others at a time when the doors are closed. It is essential that these countries enjoy greater and complete solidarity. “
The United Nations is committed to protecting the rights of migrants around the world and orderly migration. Thanks to the cooperation of United Nations agencies with the Government of Panama, the lives and well-being of migrants in La Peaita are protected even in the midst of a global pandemic.
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