I first visited Panama in 2022, at a time when the number of migrants crossing the Darién Gap was increasing significantly. I was working as a psychologist, providing mental healthcare to people who had emerged from the bordering jungle exhausted and deeply traumatized. In December 2024, I returned to Darién as the mental health activities […]
After almost four years in Panama, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has ended medical and humanitarian activities in the country. Our work focused primarily on providing care to migrants in transit to North America. The closure is due to a significant decrease in migration flows resulting from changes in regional policies. “We arrived in […]
Read More… from Panama: MSF concludes assistance activities for migrants
Reported instances of sexual violence experienced by migrants attempting to cross the Darién Gap rose sharply in December 2023, according to Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), despite the fact that crossings of the roadless region between Colombia and Panama were lower than in previous months. MSF teams in Panama treated 214 survivors of sexual […]
Helmer Charris has worked for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) for 11 years in various roles, including as a doctor, deputy project coordinator and medical advisor. His assignments include working in many emergency responses in countries including Sierra Leone, Ethiopia [the conflict in Tigray], Mexico, Yemen, South Sudan and, most recently, Panama. Helmer worked in Panama […]
Read More… from Interview: “The Darién Gap is as dangerous as ever”
Mimi and Paty were married in their home region of Maniema, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Now 42, Paty is an electromechanical engineer and video cameraman, while Mimi, 35, is a professor of Islamic theology who did her studies in Iran. After living through years of ethnic violence in Maniema, they finally made […]
MSF has now provided 30,000 medical consultations to the people in transit between Colombia and Panama.
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Read More… from Darién Gap, Panama: Violence continues in migrant journeys
Since May 2021, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has treated more than 14,000 people who were injured while crossing the Darién Gap. More than 11,000 migrants arrived in Panama from Colombia in June, 2021. This is the highest figure so far this year and a very unusual number in one month during the rainy […]
Read More… from Darien Gap, Panama: MSF reinforces support in response increasing number of migrants
MSF calls for the creation of safe routes between Colombia and Panama for people in transit.
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Read More… from Panama: MSF begins operations with migrations in the Darién forest