Why is the Darién Gap so dangerous?
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Hey everyone, today we're talking about one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world, the Darien Gap. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people risk their lives when making the crossing through the vast rainforests between Colombia and Panama.

They face the threat of nature as well as from other humans. Today we hear the story of one young woman making the treacherous journey and hope of a better life. I'm Ikra Farooq and you're listening to What's in the World on the BBC World Service.

So let's find out more about the Darien Gap. I'm joined by BBC Latin America reporter Mimi Swaybe here in the studio. Hey, Mimi. Hi, Iqra. How are you doing? OK, so what and where is the Darien Gap? The Darien Gap is a really dense jungle region on Colombia's border with Panama and South America.

It is a minefield of slippery rocks, dangerous animals, erratic riverbeds that are really challenging to most adults, leaving many dehydrated, injured or even worse in some cases. It has been called one of the most dangerous migration routes in the world and is often seen as the starting place for many migrants on their path, a very long path, towards the U.S.,

And I mean, you mentioned some of the conditions there, but what makes it so dangerous? What are people put up against when they take that journey? In addition to all the natural elements, which are really hazardous, especially at this time of year, the rainy season in Panama. So river levels, the water levels are a lot higher, making the current faster and rivers even more dangerous to cross.

We're seeing pictures, and we know for a fact that many migrants wade through rivers carrying their possessions, now sodden due to the water. And that water can be really high, I think above waste level. On top of these natural elements, though, you also have armed gangs who control the region. And they make millions from migrants. They often expose the migrants to theft.

violence, sexual assault and human trafficking in some cases. There are many elements, both natural and man-made, that migrants are facing in this really treacherous strip of jungle, which is about 100 kilometres long. And how long does it take to cross the Darien Gap? There are many factors at play. It can take...

around 10 days in most cases, but it really depends on the group you're walking with, how fast you are as a walker, and also the conditions you're walking in. Is it rainy season? Are river levels really high, which makes crossing those rivers really dangerous, but also incredibly hard. Do we know about how often they actually happen and whether there's been a rise or fall over the last few years? In the last year, according to the Panamanian government, the

The number of migrants crossing the Darien Gap has actually fallen by about 40%. However, speaking to the Red Cross, who operate in this area, they've said that it's natural. Migration comes in cycles. It can rise over a few months and then fall again. There was a brief drop in summer. However, the numbers are now increasing again slowly. Mimi has been following a young woman named Marianne Howe who crossed the Darien Gap.

She told me more about Marianne Hell's story. And just a warning, there are references to sexual abuse and murder. Marianne Hell is 19 years old from Venezuela. She was traveling with her mother and stepfather, and she saw the Darien Gap as her only option. We decided to emigrate from our country because we no longer had work.

We no longer had food and the money is not enough. We had to leave. Her dream is to get to the US. She is Venezuelan. She fled Venezuela for Colombia three years ago and is now one of the nearly 8 million Venezuelans who have fled the country due to economic chaos. So she was really pushed out, she says. She had no money. She had no work. She had no supplies. There was no other option.

The only option that she saw was doable was to undertake this really dangerous journey. And so when she was taking on this journey, what did she experience? The experience was a lot harder than she thought. This was something that she told me multiple times as she was going through this ordeal. She was shocked at the number of dead bodies lining the trail and in many instances, children. When we entered the jungle, what we began to see were dead bodies.

There were corpses here, corpses there. It was a challenge. When we entered the jungle, we were alone. All we did was see wrapped corpses, loose corpses, corpses inside little tents. On their second day in the jungle, they'd just entered at this point, María Ángel and the group she's now travelling with, of about 50 other migrants, have their first encounter with an armed gang. We had been walking for a day and a half.

In the middle of the day, we were robbed. They put a gun to my chest and put their hands in my private parts. They did it to my mother too. They need my stepfather and wanted to kill him because he didn't have any money. Maria Angel considers herself lucky compared to what many other migrants in the jungle experience. She told me that the group behind her, of around 100 migrants, that in that group they faced something much worse.

A woman, a young woman, was raped and killed. Her husband tried to intervene, but he got beaten up. And they also raped and killed her daughter. And this was a story that has stuck with Mariangel. She was really traumatized by this, going, OK, I was sexually abused. I was robbed. But the people behind me, they faced something even worse.

And then what happened to Marianne Hell when she made the crossing eventually? Marianne Hell made it out of the jungle. She was one of the more than 300,000 migrants in 2024 who made it through the Darien Gap. And just like many thousands of migrants, her first point of call was the Lagas Blancas reception center in Panama. This is a government-run, government-funded campfire.

a camp where migrants can go, they can get a place to sleep, some food, and it's really seen as a refuge once you've left this jungle. The government also provide a bus service for migrants to take them from the Darien Gap, from this Lagos Blancas camp, to Costa Rica, the next stop for many on their route finally getting to the U.S.,

However, this has a cost. So if migrants have the money that they can pay for this bus journey to Costa Rica, they can leave immediately. If they don't, they have to wait in La Gas Blanca's camp and find the money somewhere because this bus service is the only official way of leaving the camp.

Maria Angel, after a few sleepless nights in the camp, surrounded by many, many children, finally found the money to leave. She then took the bus to Costa Rica, went into Nicaragua, and a few days after she'd taken this bus, I heard from her. She said, I am now in Mexico, I have been kidnapped, and then went silent.

When did you last hear from her? What did she say? Firstly, I was really actually relieved that I saw her name pop up because it'd been a few days since I'd heard from her. I was fearing the worst for her. I thought maybe she hasn't even made it to Nicaragua. Maybe she's on this bus and something happened. So I was relieved to see the message. And then as soon as I read it and realized what happened, panic begins to set in. A week later, she adds some more detail to her message. She

She said that they were held for four days. They didn't have any food or water and they each had to pay 110 US dollars to be freed. She's still traveling with her mother and stepfather, which is a blessing at this point. She said they were thrown into the street.

So she's made it through the Darien Gap. She got through Costa Rica, through Nicaragua, through Guatemala. And it was at Guatemala, the border between Guatemala and Mexico, that she got kidnapped and then thrown onto the streets on the Mexican side of this border. My gosh. What do you know about the kidnap? What happened to her? Kidnapping for ransom is increasing among migrants. Migrants are often viewed as the most valuable commodity for cartels to steal.

An iPhone is maybe worth 50 US dollars. But migrants in some cases can be exploited for thousands of dollars depending on which cartel steals them, where they are in the country. And Mexican cartels along this border with Guatemala, this is common for them. Mariangel is now stranded after being thrown out into the streets after being held for four days here.

But now she has no money. All her money was given to the cartels so she could be released. But now she has nowhere to go. She's really in limbo, stuck in southern Mexico. And I think it's worth bringing this back to, you know, we've heard about all this dangerous, the dangerous details and the difficult journeys the migrants are going through. But why are they making these journeys? There are as many reasons as there are migrants making this journey. Everyone has a unique story behind.

The overriding themes that run through them are poverty. People a lot of the time are feeling poverty, violence, hardship in their current countries of origin. Last year, the majority of migrants who made this journey through the Daring Gap were Venezuelan, just like Mariangel. Many other people were from Ecuador, Haiti, China and Afghanistan. There are increasingly migrants coming from all over the world, not just Latin America.

It's a starting point for many on this route to the US. People are seeing this US still as this dream land of opportunities. It's still a kind of vision of hope. They're fleeing hardship and they have one destination in mind, this land of opportunity, but many countries to get through before they even get to the border of the US. And it must be really difficult when they get to the end point, that land of opportunity might not always be what it seems, I guess. No, the grass often isn't greener.

They have not only this hardship, this incredibly dangerous journey to contend with, but also policies in play. The Panamanian government have clamped down and made it a lot harder for migrants to get through the Darien Gap. There are a lot less humanitarian services on offer. This doesn't put people off, though. It actually just makes the journey even more dangerous. The number of migrants who have come to NGOs working in the region has

Asking for treatment for sexual violence or sexual assault has actually increased sevenfold in the last few years. So that is a huge warning, surely, to governments saying, yes, your policies are a lot stricter, less people are travelling. However, those who do still travel are facing incredible hardship and hardship.

many dangers. The recently elected Panamanian government have really taken an anti-migrant stance. They've clamped down. The US president-elect, Donald Trump, who comes into power on the 20th of January, he is likely going to support those measures because he will also see the Darien Gap as a focus point for him. Immigration is one of his main issues for his presidency. And this is a starting point for many. So he will be clamping down on that as well. He'll be supporting the Panamanian government's efforts.

Thank you so much for joining us, Mimi, and for sharing Marianne Hill's story as well. Thanks so much, Ikra. And thank you for listening to What's in the World from the BBC World Service. I'm Ikra Farooq, and I will see you again soon. Bye. Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by.

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It's Intern John. The holidays take a lot of effort. Shop at Safeway.com to save time and make the holidays easier. Safeway simplifies your party prep when you order for delivery right to your door or pick up where an experienced Safeway associate will carefully select, bag your order, even pick up your prescriptions from the pharmacy and bring it all to your car. Spend less time shopping, more time together. Shop now at Safeway.com or download the Safeway app. Safeway, fresh foods, local flavors.