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Monitoring in motion for migrants in the Darien Gap
08 May 2025
The Darien jungle on the border between Panama and Colombia is a labyrinth of rivers, filled with wild animals and oppressive, humid heat that envelops everything. It is a transit and destination route for migrants and asylum seekers, where fear, despair, and danger are constant. It is also the main entry point for people heading towards Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
Yet, the greatest danger does not come from nature itself, but from traffickers and criminals who prey on people on the move.
In the heart of the jungle, hope intertwines with suffering as thousands of people, including children, women, people with disabilities and LGBTQ+, risk everything for an uncertain future.
Every year, thousands of migrants cross the Darien. According to Panama's National Migration Service, in 2020, 8,594 people entered through this border, and in 2023, this estimate reached a record 520,085 people crossing this route.
In 2024, 302,203 crossed the Darien Gap, most of them were Venezuelan nationals (68%), followed by Colombians (8%), Ecuadorians (8%), Chinese (5%), and Haitians (4%). Of the migrants crossing this dangerous route, 51% are men, 28% are women, and 21% are children and adolescents. However, in 2025, the number of migrants dropped drastically with only 2,831 people crossing the Darién between January and March of 2025, a 98% decrease compared to the previous year.
Monitoring to protect
To better understand what is happening on this migratory route, UN Human Rights, in collaboration with the Ombudsman's Offices of Panama and Costa Rica, launched and implemented a technical tool for monitoring and analysing human rights violations suffered by migrants in transit through Panama. This tool has become key for collecting data and generating effective responses to the risks and violations faced by migrants.
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Migrants crossing the Darien jungle face constant dangers, such as sexual violence, human trafficking, robbery, extortion, and disappearances.
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Eduardo Leblanc González, Ombudsman of Panama
Eduardo Leblanc González, who has worked for years promoting children's rights, said that the joint project for the monitoring tool allows them not only to collect information on migrants but also to generate warnings and recommendations based on reliable data to improve public protection policies.
Ombudsman Eduardo Leblanc González (orange jacket), accompanied by Andrés Sánchez Thorin (to his right), Representative in charge of UN Human Rights for Central America, and other human rights and UNICEF officials, during a mission to the Darien in 2024. © OHCHR
Angie Cruickshank Lambert, the Ombudsman of Costa Rica, agrees.
“This tool not only allows us to gather accurate data on human rights violations but also to coordinate with authorities to provide timely institutional responses,” she said.
Cruickshank Lambert, the first woman of African descent to be appointed Ombudsman in Costa Rica, said that migrants face both physical risks and severe mental health issues, such as anxiety and the constant fear of deportation and family separation, which further increases their vulnerability.
International cooperation
According to the Representative in charge of the UN Human Rights Regional Office for Central America, Andrés Sánchez Thorin, the tool is a technical system that allows for the recording, systematisation, and analysis of human rights violations that migrants suffer during their transit through Panama and Costa Rica.
“The tool collects direct testimonies in shelters and critical points along the migratory route, identifying patterns of violence, types of recurring crimes, and particularly affected groups,” he explained.
Migrants queue at the migration point in the Darien, Panama, in 2023. © OHCHR
This data collection becomes crucial evidence for generating early warnings, recommendations to authorities, and periodic reports aimed at improving migrant protection.
“The tool offers a structured analysis of risks along the route, from sexual violence to human trafficking,” said Sánchez Thorin. “It not only documents cases but allows national human rights institutions in both countries to act strategically: referring victims to protection services, demanding institutional responses, and proposing policies based on concrete data.”
The tool’s focus is particularly geared towards women, children, and other vulnerable groups, making it a vital instrument for defending their rights, and is part of a UN Human Rights project about human rights regional strategies for Latin America and the Caribbean, funded by Sweden.
Impacts and challenges
For Leblanc González, UN Human Rights’ support has enabled the Panama Ombudsman’s Office to strengthen its capacity to effectively implement and use the tool, thus improving national and regional policies for protecting migrants.
“Cooperation with other international organisations and ombudsman offices has been key in strengthening the institutional response and improving migrant protection through a regional approach,” said Leblanc González.
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Collaboration with UN Human Rights has been essential, as it has allowed us to implement a tool to collect accurate information and share it with other countries in the region.
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Angie Cruickshank Lambert, Ombudsman of Costa Rica
Costa Rica’s Ombudsman Angie Cruickshank Lambert (second from the left) talking to migrants at the Migrant Temporary Care Centre (CATEM) in Ciudad Neily, Costa Rica, during a monitoring mission to implement the tool. © OHCHR
Cruickshank Lambert highlighted that the data collection on the situation of migrants resulted in the generation of an active observation report, which was key in the context of the recent migration agreements between Costa Rica and the United States of America. This report enabled the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica to visit the facility where individuals are detained and conduct an interrogation of the Minister of the Interior based on the Ombudsman's findings.
UN Human Rights has identified challenges such as the need to improve access to justice, prevent the disappearance of migrants, fight against discrimination and xenophobia, and create safe routes and regular pathways for migration.
Both Cruickshank Lambert and Leblanc González agreed that a significant challenge is the lack of human resources in the ombudsman offices.
“Human rights are not optional: they are essential to protect people in situations of mobility,” said Sánchez Thorin. “Human rights must consistently and legitimately guide all state actions regarding migration, ensuring an approach that strengthens the rule of law, democracy, and the dignity of all people.”
For UN Human Rights, as migration flows become more complex with movements from north to south and reverse migrations with people returning to their countries, the implementation of a sustainable monitoring system must remain a priority, and efforts must continue to address the challenges migrants face in their perilous journeys. These efforts, in which collaboration between governments and organisations is key, are crucial to ensure that all migrants can live with dignity and security.
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