ILLEGAL AFRICAN MIGRATION POSES CHALLENGE TO PANAMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L PANAMA 000873 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/12/10 TAGS: PREL PGOV PM SO SMIG PREF SUBJECT: ILLEGAL AFRICAN MIGRATION POSES CHALLENGE TO PANAMA CLASSIFIED BY: Stephenson, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) Summary ¶1. (U) The number of illegal African migrants smuggled through Panama has grown six-fold in 2009. Somali and other Horn of Africa migrants are a particular concern for Panama, which has shown no inclination to accept them as refugees, yet is struggling to find a humane response to the increase. Concern about the issue has led to discussions across the region, but to date, the unofficial policy of the GOP is simply to deny asylum requests and not accept economic migrants from Africa. As most migrants apprehended in Panama appear to have been headed for the United States, the issue has implications for the effort to secure our extended borders. End Summary. No Easy Answers ¶2. (U) Reflecting an emerging Latin American trend, illegal migration by Africans though Panama has mushroomed. In 2009, authorities apprehended 96 illegal migrants of African origin, up from 14 in 2008. Smugglers employ the same methods used in transporting narcotics from Colombia, moving people into Panama in small boats which hug the isolated shorelines of Darien province. Throughout the year, small groups of migrants, ranging in size from 11 to 28, have been abandoned on Panama's coastlines by smugglers. In one instance a group was deposited on the beach and told that they were in Canada. The migrants pay somewhere between $3000 and $10,000 to be smuggled to Latin America and onward to the United States. According to the director of the National Office of Refugees (ONPAR),the migrants' odyssey takes them through Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia as they progress northward. ¶3. (U) 70 of the 96 African migrants apprehended in 2009 are Somalis, raising consternation in Panama about this particular group. The anxiety may be tangentially based on the ongoing piracy off the Somali coast which has at times affected Panamanian flagged ships (note: Panama is home to the world's largest ship registry). ¶4. (U) Partly due to its proximity to Colombia and the ongoing insurgency there, Panamanian society is not welcoming to refugees and migration in general. The government and press have been largely unwilling to blur the distinction between economic migrants and refugees, as was shown by the decision by the National Office of Refugees in September to deny asylum to 89 migrants, including 61 from the Horn of Africa. In the same month, the Supreme Court ruled that the continuing detention of 67 migrants, including a large percentage of Somalis, was legal. Both decisions attracted little to no criticism in the Panamanian press. You Can't Go Home Again ¶5. (C) All 89 persons denied asylum in September remain in detention in Panama. The director of the National Migration Service, Maria Christina Gonzalez, told embassy officers in December that Colombia would not accept the return of African migrants that had crossed into Panama, characterizing the Colombian response as "evasive". Complicating matters is the impossibility of returning the migrants to Somalia, which is without a functioning government able to accept them. Gonzalez said that efforts were underway to settle the migrants in a third country. Growing concern about the possibility of increased migration across the region led to high-level discussions of the issue, including one between Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Varela, his Costa Rican counterpart Bruno Stagno, and Colombian Ambassador to Panama Gina Bendetti in late October. Gonzalez told PolOff that there is a meeting involving representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica scheduled for January 2010 to address the issue. To date, however, Gonzalez said Panama's only policy is to deny refugee status in the hopes that this will discourage further migration to and through Panama. Heading North? ¶6. (C) Comment. African migration to Latin America is a complex phenomenon that is in a state of flux. Many migrants appear willing to settle in Brazil, Argentina, or other countries willing to accommodate them. However, the surge of Somali immigrants as far north as Panama and Costa Rica may signal both a new source and a new route for attempted illegal entry into the U.S. In the context of the emerging global economy, as Panama transitions from developing to developed nation and seeks to improve its democratic governance it will likely face further challenges from African migration. STEPHENSON