UN Human Rights Briefing by Marta Hurtado on Migrants at the Darien Gap, Panama.
/
1:50
/
MP4
/
204 MB

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Briefing by Marta Hurtado on Migrants at the Darien Gap, Panama.

So far this year, more than 330,000 people have crossed the Darien Gap – the highest annual figure recorded to date. One in five were children. By comparison, some 248,000 people are estimated to have passed through this region during the whole of 2022.

Migrants and refugees are exposed to multiple human rights violations and abuses during their journey, including sexual violence, which is a particular risk for children, women, LGBTI people and people with disabilities. There are also murders, disappearances, trafficking, robbery, and intimidation by organised crime groups, ” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Marta Hurtado told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva.

The limited humanitarian attention both in Panama and Costa Rica worsens the precarious living conditions there and increases people’s vulnerabilities, she said.

The risks are all the greater given the dangers of crossing this jungle of some 575,000 hectares. In the dry season, people walk on average for four to seven days to cross the Darien Gap. During the nine month-long rainy season, this can take up to 10 days, Hurtado explained.

The Government of Panama has, with the support of the international community, built two migration reception centres in Darien province and one at the border with Costa Rica to provide shelter, food, health care and water and sanitation. However, the large number of people on the move has stretched the capacity of the Panamanian authorities on the ground to continue providing protection and to attend to the humanitarian needs of refugees and migrants.

We understand the challenges and recognise the efforts of Costa Rica and Panama to meet the humanitarian needs of people in the context of large mixed movements at borders. We call on all States to promote human rights-based solutions to migration governance challenges and ensure border governance in line with international law and standards. We also recall the need to avoid discriminatory, anti-migrant narratives,” Hurtado stressed.

Addressing migration challenges demands collective efforts and solutions at the regional and international levels, which is why we are also calling on the international community to strengthen its support to the States in the Americas to address these protection gaps,” she added.

The UN Human Rights Office further encourage the States of the region to address structural factors that are forcing people to leave their homes and embark on perilous journeys in search of safety and a more dignified life for them and their families, Hurtado said.

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or

Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org or

Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org

In Nairobi

Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org

Tag and share

Twitter @UNHumanRights

Facebook unitednationshumanrights

Instagram @unitednationshumanrights

  1. Exterior shot: Palais des Nations
  2. SOUNDBITE (English)—Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):Migrants and refugees are exposed to multiple human rights violations and abuses during their journey, including sexual violence, which is a particular risk for children, women, LGBTI people and people with disabilities. There are also murders, disappearances, trafficking, robbery, and intimidation by organised crime groups.
  3. DATELINE : FEBRUARY 2023, LAJAS BLANCAS & BAJO CHIQUITO, PANAMA- IOM.

    1. Wide shot, boats with Migrants arriving at Bajo Chiquito.

    DATELINE : APRIL 2023, LAJAS BLANCAS, DARIEN PROVINCE, PANAMA- IOM.

    1. Various shots, aerial views of boats full of migrants on Chucunaque river.
    2. Wide shot, migrants disembarking boats.
    3. Cut away: Briefing room.
    4. SOUNDBITE (English)— Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):We understand the challenges and recognise the efforts of Costa Rica and Panama to meet the humanitarian needs of people in the context of large mixed movements at borders. We call on all States to promote human rights-based solutions to migration governance challenges and ensure border governance in line with international law and standards. We also recall the need to avoid discriminatory, anti-migrant narratives.”

    DATELINE : APRIL 2023, LAJAS BLANCAS, DARIEN PROVINCE, PANAMA – UNICEF.

    1. Various shots, migrants lining up for registration at migration reception centre.
    2. Various shots, migrants lining up for food and water.
    3. Various shots, migrants resting at temporary accommodation.
    4. Cut away: Briefing room.
    5. SOUNDBITE (English)— Marta Hurtado, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):Addressing migration challenges demands collective efforts and solutions at the regional and international levels, which is why we are also calling on the international community to strengthen its support to the States in the Americas to address these protection gaps,”
    6. Cut away: Briefing room.

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Killing of Journalists in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Killing of Journalists in Gaza ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following comment on the killing of journalists in Gaza at the bi-weekly press briefing.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on “rotation” practice by Egyptian Government

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on “rotation” practice by Egyptian Government ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called on Egyptian authorities to end the practice known as “rotation”, which allows Government critics to be held arbitrarily and for prolonged periods.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Sudan attacks

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Sudan attacks ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan 

Gaza City famine – UN OCHA, WFP, WHO, OHCHR 22 August 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNITED NATIONS , WFP , WHO

Gaza City famine – UN OCHA, WFP, WHO, OHCHR 22 August 2025 ENG FRA

Gaza: Famine “irrefutably” confirmed, UN humanitarians unite in plea for aid access

Famine has been confirmed in Gaza Governorate by the world’s top authority on food security and will spread further within the Strip unless fighting stops and much more aid is allowed in, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the eighth anniversary of military assault on the Rohingya in Myanmar

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on famine in Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on famine in Gaza ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on the declared famine in Gaza Governorate

 

World Humanitarian Day Commemoration - 19 August 2025

3

36

1

2

Edited News , Statements , Images , Conferences | HRC , OCHA , UNOG

World Humanitarian Day Commemoration - 19 August 2025 ENG FRA

A record 383 aid workers were killed last year with hundreds more wounded, kidnapped and detained, the UN’s top aid official said on Tuesday in a call for accountability, at a solemn ceremony in Geneva to mark World Humanitarian Day.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on treatment of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi inside an Israeli jail

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on treatment of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouthi inside an Israeli jail ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following statement at today’s biweekly press briefing in Geneva: 

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Gaza

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al Kheetan on Gaza ENG FRA

In Gaza, the Israeli army has intensified its attacks in the north of the strip,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.

Gaza aid blockages OHCHR - OCHA

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , OCHA

Gaza aid blockages OHCHR - OCHA ENG FRA

Gaza: Aid insufficient to avert ‘widespread starvation’ as Israeli military ramp-up forces more people to flee

The small trickle of aid entering Gaza is totally insufficient to alleviate starvation and displacement in the Strip, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.

Gaza health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza health update - WHO ENG FRA

Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO 

As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.

 

Sudan update UNHCR - WHO - UNMAS

1

1

1

Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS

Sudan update UNHCR - WHO - UNMAS ENG FRA

Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.