[DoctorsWithoutBorders] Sam Antoine was born a migrant. His mother, Merlande was eight months pregnant when she embarked on a journey to cross the Darién Gap with her family, traveling for four days through dense jungle, rivers and cliffs on land controlled by gangs. Merlande was traveling by way of Chile, where she had lived as a domestic worker and found life unsustainable after fleeing violence in her home country, Haiti.
"The cost of living is very high there," she said. "Everything is expensive—food, rent. Without papers, you cannot get a good job and, although we tried to legalize our situation, it was impossible."
More than 127,000 migrants colonists crossed the Darién Gap between January and April 2023, five times more than in the same period in 2022. After Venezuela
 ...a country in Central America that sits on an enormous pool of oil. Formerly the most prospereous country in the region, it became infested with Commies sniffing almost unlimited wealth. It turned out the wealth wasn't unlimited, the economy collapsed under the clownish Hugo Chavez, the murder rate exceeded places like Honduras and El Salvador. A significant proportion of the populace refugeed to Colombia and points south...
ns, Haitians are the second largest group migrating this route, with 28,610 crossing in the first three months of this year. They are joined by migrants colonists from countries both near and far, including Ecuadoreans, Chileans, Chinese, Indians, Afghans, Syrians, and others trying to reach the United States.
"In the jungle they stole $1,300 dollars from us. They left us without any money. But we were only robbed," she clarified, because robberies are often accompanied by kidnapping, rape and murder in the deadly Darién Gap.
Humanitarian organizations including MSF as well as government entities in Colombia and Panama have repeatedly denounced conditions along the Darién Gap route, where migrants colonists face violence and risks related to the harrowing journey itself, such as drowning, fractures, gastric and skin diseases. Despite repeated warnings about the dangers faced along the Darien, there is still no safe and dignified route for migrants colonists.
TRAVELING WHILE VULNERABLE
Merlande arrived in Panama with preeclampsia, a life threatening pregnancy complication which can cause dangerously high blood pressure and other symptoms. As a result, she had to give birth prematurely and by caesarean section. Between January and April 2023 alone, MSF carried out 499 prenatal consultations at the two temporary migrant reception centers for migrants colonists crossing the Darién Gap.
"We have seen an increase in diagnoses of chronic conditions that need special treatment," said Priscila Acevedo, an MSF field doctor. "People with heart disease, people who need insulin, people with blood pressure problems, and people who faint due to rising temperatures, lack of food, or severe dehydration." A person’s health condition does not seem to be a determining factor in their decision to embark on the route to the United States. "We have even received people without mobility in their legs, with cerebral palsy and with senile dementia," explained Acevedo.
Between January and April 2023, MSF treated 669 people with diagnoses of chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and asthma. During the same period in 2022, that number was 262.
Carlos*, a 62-year-old Colombian migrant, has diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as heart problems. For two days during his journey, he had only water, a couple of biscuits, and medication his wife had given him. He burst into tears describing the experience as he sat in the waiting room of a health post in Lajas Blancas. "I thought at various times that my heart was not strong enough to endure that path. It is something that I do not wish on anyone, not even on my worst enemy," he said.
Along with Carlos and Merlande, MSF met an Afghan man who lost his leg in the war, an Afghan family traveling with a blind woman, a Colombian woman with one hand recently operated on for a fracture, and several older adults.
Lots more of the same at the link. Skipping down to the end: MSF reiterates the need for Colombian and Panamanian authorities to guarantee safe routes for migrants colonists for the expansion of services in temporary migrant reception centers. Moslem colonists Migrants must be guaranteed security, decent spaces for overnight stays, access to drinking water and food, appropriate hygiene and sanitation conditions, as well as access to justice. 
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