US-bound migrants fill Colombia town after curbs lifted
Published: 03:08 PM,Aug 11,2021 | EDITED : 07:08 PM,Aug 11,2021
A migrant and his daughter check a photo on his phone as they wait to cross into Panama to continue their journey toward the US, in Necocli, Colombia. -- Reuters
NECOCLI: After traveling for more than a year by ship, bus and car from Africa in hope of reaching the United States, Simon Gyamfi found himself stuck in a remote tourist resort on the coast of Colombia with thousands of other migrants.
The 42-year-old carpenter, a Christian, fled his home in Ghana because of a dispute with his late wife's Muslim family, he said, and took a month-long ocean voyage to Brazil. The closure of borders due to the coronavirus pandemic left him stranded there for months.
Now, after the frontiers finally reopened, he has made his way by road to the northern Colombian town of Necocli, a gateway for migrants heading northward into Central America.
Every year, thousands of migrants pass through the small town, looking to catch a boat across the Gulf of Uraba toward the jungles of the Darien Gap on the isthmus of Panama.
There, people smugglers guide groups across the wild, road-less region, one of the most treacherous barriers on the clandestine route to the United States.
Now borders closures have lifted, the number of migrants arriving in Necocli is soaring.
In a typical year, an estimated 30,000 migrants pass through Necocli. But by August of this year, 25,000 have already been through, according to Colombian government figures.
Panama's Foreign Affairs ministry said it expects to receive over 70,000 migrants crossing the country en route to the U.S. by the end of 2021, an unprecedented number in the country's history.
The town has been struggling to accommodate migrants from Latin America and beyond - many of them driven by the economic hardship worsened by the pandemic - clamoring for scarce places on boats across the Gulf. Thousands crowd hotels and the beach as they wait weeks for a spot.
Colombia and Panama vowed last week to impose order on the migrant flows as they seek support from allies, including the United States, after the number of travelers stranded in Necocli topped 10,000.
The majority of the migrants moving through Necocli are Haitian or Cuban, fleeing dire economic circumstances in their homelands. But Reuters spoke to several others from further afield, including African nations such as Ghana and Mali.
Gyamfi had been in Necocli for almost a week, paying $7 a night for a hotel room.
'The journey has been hard and full of surprises. Last month, a friend of mine died on the road,' said the widowed carpenter, who hopes to save enough to bring his young daughter to join him if he reaches the United States.
'It takes a lot of money to get here and great risks.'
Necocli became a staging area for migrants just five years ago. Though it has thrived by charging migrants in dollars, not Colombian pesos, local officials say public services and housing in the town of 20,000 are not robust enough to cope with recent numbers. -- Reuters
The 42-year-old carpenter, a Christian, fled his home in Ghana because of a dispute with his late wife's Muslim family, he said, and took a month-long ocean voyage to Brazil. The closure of borders due to the coronavirus pandemic left him stranded there for months.
Now, after the frontiers finally reopened, he has made his way by road to the northern Colombian town of Necocli, a gateway for migrants heading northward into Central America.
Every year, thousands of migrants pass through the small town, looking to catch a boat across the Gulf of Uraba toward the jungles of the Darien Gap on the isthmus of Panama.
There, people smugglers guide groups across the wild, road-less region, one of the most treacherous barriers on the clandestine route to the United States.
Now borders closures have lifted, the number of migrants arriving in Necocli is soaring.
In a typical year, an estimated 30,000 migrants pass through Necocli. But by August of this year, 25,000 have already been through, according to Colombian government figures.
Panama's Foreign Affairs ministry said it expects to receive over 70,000 migrants crossing the country en route to the U.S. by the end of 2021, an unprecedented number in the country's history.
The town has been struggling to accommodate migrants from Latin America and beyond - many of them driven by the economic hardship worsened by the pandemic - clamoring for scarce places on boats across the Gulf. Thousands crowd hotels and the beach as they wait weeks for a spot.
Colombia and Panama vowed last week to impose order on the migrant flows as they seek support from allies, including the United States, after the number of travelers stranded in Necocli topped 10,000.
The majority of the migrants moving through Necocli are Haitian or Cuban, fleeing dire economic circumstances in their homelands. But Reuters spoke to several others from further afield, including African nations such as Ghana and Mali.
Gyamfi had been in Necocli for almost a week, paying $7 a night for a hotel room.
'The journey has been hard and full of surprises. Last month, a friend of mine died on the road,' said the widowed carpenter, who hopes to save enough to bring his young daughter to join him if he reaches the United States.
'It takes a lot of money to get here and great risks.'
Necocli became a staging area for migrants just five years ago. Though it has thrived by charging migrants in dollars, not Colombian pesos, local officials say public services and housing in the town of 20,000 are not robust enough to cope with recent numbers. -- Reuters