Panama: the ‘Road of Death’
The Darien Gap is known simply as “hell” to those who survive it. How else to describe this lawless and roadless expanse of dense jungle swamp marking the border between Colombia and Panama?
Navigating this treacherous crossing requires traversing steep mountain passes patrolled by drug traffickers and armed bandits looking to rape and rob, walking 12-hours a day in stifling humidity and wading through endless swollen rivers which can rise several metres in an instant, sweeping the unsuspecting into their murky depths.
Then there are the savage insects which bite every inch of bare skin and a multitude of venomous snakes. The jungle paths are lined with the rotting corpses and bones of those fallen by the wayside.
Despite the horrors of the Darien Gap, over recent years it has become one of the most prominent routes for migrants travelling to North America. As well as a host of South American and Caribbean countries, people travel here from all over the world to make the lethal jungle crossing, including Africa, China, South East Asia and the Middle East.
In 2021, according to the Panamanian government’s own figures, 133,000 reportedly made the journey – a figure that is set to be surpassed this year. According to Unicef, in the first five months of this year, the number of children in the jungle was double what it was over the same period in 2021, meaning minors comprised roughly one in five of those attempting to cross. Many of these children are walking with families, but others end up in the jungle alone.
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There are numerous routes through the Darien Gap. Arriving at Lajas Blancas reception centre are migrants who have taken the "road of death," the cheapest and most dangerous route.
At 5am migrants leave the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
Travelling through the Darien Gap in stifling humidity and wading through endless swollen rivers which can rise several metres in an instant, sweeping the unsuspecting into their murky depths.
Nearing the end of her ordeal in the jungle an exhausted Venezuelan woman and her son stand in line the Canaan Membrillo migrant processing centre.
At the Canaan Membrillo migrant processing centre 21 year old Venezuelan Wilmer arrives carrying 23 year old Jennifer to the medical centre. Jennifer collapsed suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. Wilmer, who didnt even know her name, met Jennifer on the perilous journey through the jungle.
Migrants the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
Migrants the village of Canaan Mebrillo Genesis Gutierrez and husband Fabian with daughter Fabiana, 9, and son Wilfredo, 7. At 5am migrants leave the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap heading to the USA if they are lucky. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
There are numerous routes through the Darien Gap. Arriving at Lajas Blancas reception centre are migrants who have taken the road of death, the cheapest and most dangerous route.
At the Canaan Membrillo migrant processing centre 21 year old Venezuelan Jennifer receives treatment having collapsed suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.
An indigenous woman watches migrants arrive as she cleans her teeth in the river. Until 2016 when the first migrants started to arrive here, Canaan Membrillo was an indigenous village largely cut off from the world. Canaan has become a key transit point for people traversing the Darien Gap. They spend fewer than 24 hours here before being moved on.
A child arrives at Canaan. With so many unregistered people streaming through the jungle, the numbers that perish are hard to quantify. According to Unicef, last year five children were found dead in the Darien Gap. The true death toll, however, is feared to be considerably higher.
Migrants arrive in Canaan Membrillo. After more than a week in the jungle they have often lost almost everything they own.
Migrants arrive in Canaan Membrillo an indigenous village largely cut off from the world. They are charged $25 for each of the two boat trips to take them down the river.
Migrants trudge through the jungle to arrive in Canaan, a small village on the Membrillo river, carrying all that they own.
At the end of a week long struggle migrants trudge through the jungle to arrive in Canaan, a small village on the Membrillo river.
Migrants travel by dugout canoe on the Membrillo River, the last stretch out of the Darien Gap.
At 5am migrants leave the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
At 5am migrants leave the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
At 5am migrants leave the village of Canaan Mebrillo in the heart of the Darien Gap. They pay $25 per person for each leg of a two-leg journey in dugout canoes.
Until 2016 when the first migrants started to arrive here, Canaan Membrillo was an indigenous village largely cut off from the world. Canaan has become a key transit point for people traversing the Darien Gap. They spend fewer than 24 hours here before being moved on.
Until 2016 when the first migrants started to arrive here, Canaan Membrillo was an indigenous village largely cut off from the world. Canaan has become a key transit point for people traversing the Darien Gap. They spend fewer than 24 hours here before being moved on.
Ashley Lopez, 12 and sister Eduiscar Sosa, 10 Canaan Membrillo migrant processing centre. They have just spent 8 days walking through the jungle on their journey to the USA.
Migrants arrive in Canaan, a small village on the Membrillo river. With an infrastructure overwhelmed by an average 600 arrivals a day, the migrants are forced to walk through mud, rubbish and human waste.
Ten-year-old Anna Ramirez lost her mother and has heard no news of her since making it out of the jungle alive. She and her 14-year-old sister became separated from their mother after she injured her foot on a tree branch.